Khan Jasim
Around Tk 10,000 crore has been laundered abroad by siphoning out from AB Bank in various ways during last one and half decades.
Bankers, sponsor directors, middlemen and political touts in connivance with central bank officials have laundered the money applying unique tricks.
The money smuggled out in guise of issuing letter of credit to shell companies, offering bank guarantee against ghost work orders, approve loans to customers who have been black listed by the central bank.
The bank management ignored all sorts of banking laws and regulations in approving loans to fake companies and help those to laundered abroad, sources said.
Most of the frauds in AB Bank took place between 2013 and 2018. By violating the rules and regulations, a loan limit of Tk 1,729 crore was handed over to Ashikur Rahman Laskar, a infamous businessman based in Chittagong. The fugitive health sector contractor Motazzerul Islam Mithu also got a loan of Tk 1,600 crore from AB Bank. This loan was also approved with the special kindness of former Managing Director Moshiur Rahman Chowdhury.
Mohammad Ali Haider Ratan owner of ghost company ‘Brandshare Trading’ looted Tk 350 crore from banks Gulshan Branch.
From 2014 to 2018, AB Bank former Managing Director Shamim Ahmed Chowdhury, former Vice President Khandaker Rashed Anwar, former Assistants Emarat Hossain Fakir and Sirajul Islam prepared fake work orders through issuing fraud and deceptive bank guarantee withdrew and embezzled 176.18 crore.
According to sources, for about one and a half years, i.e. from mid-2023 to the end of 2024, three companies (S.S. Steel Ltd., Saleh Steel Industries Ltd. and Fu-Wang Ceramic Industries Ltd.) with mutual interests and controlled under the same management were given loans of about Tk 1,522.24 crore (funded loan of Tk 879.74 crore and non-funded loan of Tk 642.50 crore). Most of the loans were not used for the proper purpose, but funds were diverted by transferring large amounts of cash to different accounts of the directors of the companies in different banks.
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed a case on November 26, 2020, alleging that Tk 236 crore was laundered and embezzled abroad through AB Bank’s offshore unit. The case names 23 accused, including the bank’s former chairman Wahidul Haque and Mashiur Rahman Chowdhury. The ACC’s case statement says that the money was laundered and embezzled in the name of a non-existent company in the United Arab Emirates, ATZ Communications Pte Ltd in Singapore, and Eurocars Holdings Pte Ltd.
AB Bank has provided a guarantee of Tk 179 crore to non-bank financial institution Phoenix Finance on behalf of Mahin Group and Buildtrade, but now AB Bank is struggling to recover the loan from them.
Bank latest survival initiatives:
AB bank new management is hopeful of the bank’s survival if the central bank continues inject liquidity support and keeps exempt from provision requirement for a long period.
It recently launched series of drives against those powerful listed defaulters who have been previously kept beyond any legal networks.
The newly appointed Managing Director & CEO of AB Bank Syed Mizanur Rahman expressed those opinions in a telephone conversation with Business Mirror Monday.
“We already filed many cases mostly under NI ACT against top defaulters and we are expecting that those who are staying in the land will force to payback bank money,” Mr. Rahman said
“We have options and legal capacity so that the defaulters will force start paying back even if they stay abroad,” he added.
Syed Mizanur Rahman said our strength is that most of the core depositors of the bank are still staying confidence with AB Bank.
“Among half of the 18,000 crore deposit is being deposited by individuals and small entrepreneurs who did not panicked during the crisis period. Even some of them are returning to AB Bank after the recent upheaval,” Mr. Rahman clarified.
Despite it is challenging, the AB Bank CEO said he is hopeful that the bank will able to recover its default loans and became stable again.
AB Bank Present Situation:
AB Bank is currently going through various turmoil. A large part of its top customers are not paying their loans regularly. Among them, Sikder Group, Asian City, Buildtrade, Mahin Group, Aman Group, Ershad Brothers and some institutions of Motazzerul Islam Mithu, a well-known contractor in the health sector, are notable. At the same time, the bank is also failing to collect loans from Beximco Group. In addition, the loan of the now-closed mobile operator Citycell, owned by Morshed Khan, has also been in default for a long time. In such a situation, Bangladesh Bank has appointed its own representative to the board of directors of AB Bank to maintain the financial condition and discipline of the bank.
AB Bank’s total loan balance is Tk 32,338 crore. Of which, defaulted loans are Tk 10,115 crore 65 lakh or 31 percent of the total loans disbursed. However, there is no provision deficit as it has taken special facilities from Bangladesh Bank until 2029. However, if the special facilities given during the tenure of former Governor Fazle Kabir are excluded, the bank will face a provision deficit of more than Tk 8,000 crore.
end..
