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BAC asked to take up IFIC scam

By Toufique Imrose Khalidi and Inam Ahmed
The Bureau of Anti-corruption (BAC) has been asked to probe into the IFIC scam that has implicated business barons Sohel and Salman Rahman in an alleged fraud and unprecedented banking irregularities. BAC sources said.
The Bureau has also been requested to take up two other cases of irregularities by the International Finance and Investment Company Ltd. the sources said.
The Bureau is expected to investigate a major violation of loan sanctioning procedure, from which the Dandy Dying Ltd of Tareq Rahman and Syed Iskander gained, the sources said.
A third case is that of one called Mohammad Yusuf.
The Bangladesh Bank, which detected the alleged irregularities and fraud in banking practices. sent its findings to the Bureau, requesting It To
could be taken against them.
Meanwhile, the sources said, the Bank is using its own mechanism to punish those responsible. It has already served showcause notices, returnable in 15 days from September 2. on
the IFIC chairman Sohel Rahman, vice chairman Salman Rahman, managing director Abbas Uddin Ahmed.
The managing director has received another notice in which he has been asked to take action against the bank executives involved in the irregularities.
Another notice, addressed to the chairman, has asked the IFIC Board of Directors to explain why the activities of the bank should not be stopped.
The Bank's Board has already sought another 15 days to reply to the notices, according to a decision taken September 10, IFIC sources said.
Meanwhile, a Bangladesh Bank audit team on Sunday had a scrutiny of different matters related to IFIC. including its legal department.
The alleged irregularities and fraud through which the Rahman brothers of Beximco the Dhanmondl branch "oJ^he IFIC.
According to a central bank inquiry, the IFIC Bank went through extremely complicated -- and unacceptable, means to make Tk 1.75 crore available to Baghkahli Fisheries, in which the Rahman brothers and their Beximco Group allegedly have an interest.
The money was needed, according to rescheduling terms, to pay 15 per cent of an overdue loan amounting to Tk 9.93 crore, originally in the form of export cash credit, but later turned into a term loan in violation of banking rules.
Cheques drawn on different accounts to pay for the required sum bounced one after another. All these went against accepted banking practices, according to IFIC sources quoting the central bank inquiry.
Asked, top Bangladesh Bank officials remained tight-lipped. Officials at Bureau were not also forthcoming.
The Baghkhali affair, along with such other transactions, only created new loans of Tk 8.80 crore with the IFIC Dhanmondi branch as on July 30 this year.
IFIC was also found to have agreed to extremely favourable rescheduling terms, which gave Baghkhali Fisheries eight years to repay, from October I 1997 to October 1 2004. with a low nine per cent rate of interest. The usual is 15 per cent.
The bank also violated a major clause of the Banking Company Act. by not seeking the Bangladesh Bank approval mandatory when the loan amount exceeds 15 per cent of a bank's capital and reserves.
In this case, the loan amount was 20.57 per cent of the total
capital of the bank.
Contacted yesterday, managing director Abbas Uddin Ahmed again wouldn't say "anything .
"There are so many inquiries done by the Bangladesh Bank. I have no knowledge of any such (the one of Sunday's) inquiry," he said. In response to The Daily Star query. There are no irregularities." he retorted.
The Dandy episode was also a work of the bank's Dhanmondi branch.
A Tk 70 lakh loan was sanctioned against a "so-called work order" of the mostly family-owned company. The money was received by a firm called Messrs. Anna (pvt) Ltd. which the central bank inquiry found did not exist at all.
The central bank inspectors detected that the loan had been given without any collateral and had never been serviced.
The process of sanctioning the loan also ran at an unusual speed, with the money being paid before it had been ap proved, according to the sources.
The third episode brought to the notice of the anti-corruption investigators saw Mohammad Yusuf receive a Tk 20 lakh loan against property already acquired by the gov ernment
In this case, the Bangladesh Bank Inspectors found, the IFIC executives at the Motijheel branch acted against the opinion of their legal adviser, and had not conducted an on-the-spot Inquiry.