7.5 billion taka looted from 9 banks in Chittagong

Around 7.5 billion taka looted from 9 government and private banks in Chittagong. A fraud ring that has been built up over the years by showing fake institutions, named individuals and invisible business transactions has embezzled this money by sanctioning loans. Big business groups and former Awami League ministers looted this money with the help of dishonest internal officials of the bank.
A statistical analysis of the cases filed at the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Chittagong District Office-1 from January to November this year shows that out of a total of 43 cases, 19 are related to embezzlement of bank funds. The amount of charges in these 19 cases is 7,618 crore 60 lakh 70 thousand 355 taka. 426 people have been accused in these cases. That is, about 44 percent of the total cases filed are bank loot.
The banks accused of embezzlement are Islami Bank, United Commercial Bank, Prime Bank, Global Islami Bank, Pubali Bank, Janata Bank, Dutch-Bangla Bank, Agrani Bank and Fast Security Bank. The remaining 24 cases are for various financial crimes. Of these, 10 cases are for illegal acquisition of wealth, five for making forged documents and looting government funds, six for embezzling institutional funds and three for accepting bribes. In other words, almost half of the financial corruption in Chittagong is bank loot accounts.
19 cases have been filed against Janata Bank, Islami Bank and United Commercial Bank for embezzlement of Tk 5,492 crore. Saiful Alam Masud and his family of S Alam Group, former minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury Jabed and his family, Md. Mohsin and his family of Saad Musa Group and Zahir Ahmed Ratan and his family members of Nurjahan Group have been accused in these cases. In addition, cases have been filed against 242 former bank officials, ranging from former chairmen, directors, deputy general managers, managers to cash officers. At the same time, 9 former ministers, members of parliament, mayors of municipalities and political leaders have also been accused of acquiring illegal wealth.
ACC officials said that such rapid money transfers through magic loans were possible due to the direct cooperation of bank officials. Such fraud is increasing due to the lack of transparency and strict audit system in the banking sector. Those concerned said that the looting of such a huge amount of money has exposed the weakness and lack of institutional discipline in the country’s banking sector. Economists are demanding that all those involved in the looting be brought to justice.
Chittagong University Registrar and Professor of Economics Dr. Saiful Islam told us that the type of fraud that is now being exposed in the banking sector is not the result of a single incident. It is a reflection of many years of structural weaknesses and lack of supervision. Everything from liquidity crisis to the safety of customer deposits is at risk. Therefore, risk management must be strengthened on an urgent basis. In addition, there is no other option but to make the internal processes of the bank more transparent.
Dr. Saiful Islam also said that inflation has increased in the country due to huge money looting. The amount of money Bangladesh Bank produces should be the same as the amount of goods and services it produces. But there is no accounting for the huge amount of looted money. As a result, even though the flow of money in the market increases, production does not increase in return – that is why inflation is not decreasing.
According to Dr. Saiful Islam, this fraud has also had a negative impact on the investment sector. Those who looted easily got loans. However, those who really needed loans did not get loans. As a result, many institutions have closed. New markets have not been created. Unemployment has increased. Therefore, the government must work to bring back the looted money. In addition, those involved in this incident must be brought to justice.