Islami Bank Bangladesh PLC has temporarily suspended Mohammad Yasin Ali, a bank officer who filed a complaint with the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) against 38 individuals and organisations, including former president Mohammad Sahabuddin and S Alam Group Chairman Mohammad Saiful Alam.
Yasin Ali, a First Assistant Vice President at Islami Bank’s Foreign Exchange Corporate Branch in Motijheel, submitted the complaint to the ACC on July 29. He was suspended on Tuesday after reports about the complaint appeared in several media outlets. He has since been assigned to the bank’s training academy and will reportedly receive half of his basic salary during the suspension.
A senior official of the bank’s human resources division said Yasin was suspended for submitting the complaint to the ACC without approval from the bank’s head office.
However, Yasin said he had submitted the complaint in accordance with instructions from senior officials of the bank. He declined to comment in detail on the reasons for his suspension or the terms of the suspension.
He said Islami Bank has several cases related to irregularities involving loans extended to entities associated with S Alam. Following court directions, information related to loans was provided to the ACC as part of one of those cases.
An ACC official said the commission currently has no scope to proceed with the complaints until the commission is reconstituted. The complaints will be examined after the new commission is formed, the official said.
Mohammad Zahir Hossain, acting chairman of Islami Bank and an executive director of Bangladesh Bank, said Yasin had filed the complaint with the ACC without approval from the head office.
“For this reason, the bank’s human resources department has temporarily suspended him. At the same time, a three-member committee has been formed to investigate the matter,” he said.
In his July 29 complaint, Yasin accused 38 individuals and organisations of allegedly obtaining nearly Tk500 crore in loans from Islami Bank through fraud and forgery, misappropriating the funds and transferring money abroad.
The complaint alleged that the accused acted in collusion to prepare forged and fraudulent documents and secure large loans from the bank. The loans were allegedly approved without adequate collateral or guarantees and without proper verification, causing financial losses to Islami Bank.
According to the complaint, Suprabha Composite Knit Ltd was once a distressed small industrial enterprise with an investment limit of Tk100 crore. The limit was allegedly increased gradually to Tk200 crore and eventually to Tk500 crore by using influence.
Loan proposals were reportedly sent from the concerned branch to the bank’s head office at different times between July 27, 2017 and December 5, 2023. The loans were subsequently approved at various meetings of the executive board between June 20, 2017 and November 21, 2023.
The complaint further said that several reminders and final demand notices were issued between 2019 and 2025 for repayment of the loans, but the outstanding amounts were not repaid.
Among the principal accused are Suprabha Composite Knit Ltd and its managing director Mohammad Yunus alias Alhaj Mohammad Yunus Badal. Galaxy Sweaters and Yarn Dyeing Ltd and several of its directors were also named in the complaint.
S Alam Group Chairman and Managing Director Mohammad Saiful Alam, popularly known as S Alam, was identified in the complaint as a beneficiary of the alleged loan facility.
The complaint also names former directors and executive committee members of Islami Bank, as well as its former managing director and chief executive officer, deputy managing directors and several former officials.
The allegations remain subject to investigation and verification by the relevant authorities.
