Some business owners and shareholders of Social Islami Bank called for the dissolution of the board of directors after a change of ownership took place at gunpoint in 2017.
In a letter to the central bank, they complained that a secret service forced the bank’s then management to resign at gunpoint in 2017. The current board of directors took over the bank only for the purpose of money laundering, bank robbery and implementing its specific agenda. It was not its goal to protect the interests of the bank’s customers.
This letter also claims that Social Islami Bank has given a fresh loan of 15,000 crore taka, which was mostly taken anonymously by S Alam Group and its partners. The bank is on the verge of bankruptcy due to rampant corruption. As a result, dissatisfaction has arisen at the customer level, many are withdrawing money.
Three businessmen of Social Islami Bank, namely former Chairman Major (retired) Rezaul Haque, former Chairman of the Board Md. Anisul Haque and former Chairman of the Audit Committee Md. Angur Rahman, sent a letter to the Governor of Bangladesh Bank (BB) on Sunday (August 18) in this regard.
The S.Alam Group took control of the bank in 2017. Currently, Belal Ahmed, the son-in-law of Saiful Alam, is the chairman of the bank. However, after the takeover of the bank, Anwarul Azim Arif, the former vice-chancellor of Chittagong University, was appointed as the chairman of the board.
In the letter sent to the BB, the entrepreneurs said that the 404th meeting of the Board of Directors of Social Islami Bank would be held on October 30, 2017 at the head office in Motijheel.
On that day, under the direct supervision of a special security force of the autocratic government, S. Alam and her allies abducted the bank’s Chairman, the Chairman of the Executive Committee, the Managing Director and the Company Secretary hostage at gunpoint to the Secret Service office and forced them to resign.
Later, the board meeting was held under special security at the Westin Hotel instead of the bank’s headquarters. There, the other members of the board were forcibly taken from their homes and taken first to the secret service office and then to the Westin Hotel under their supervision, the letter said.
The letter states that the bank is in crisis due to the rampant corruption of S Alam Group and loans amounting to thousands of taka given using forged documents. As a result, the amount of defaulted loans of the bank exceeded 10,000 crore taka.
However, the bank’s funds continued to be withdrawn in the name and anonymously by the S Alam Group and its various subsidiaries under special arrangements. This process must be stopped immediately or there will be great uncertainty as to whether customers will get their hard-earned deposits back.
