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Powerful loan defaulters got Sonali Bank MD removed

By Toufique Imrose Khalidi
Powerful loan defaulters successfully lobbied with the highest authorities to remove Khondkar Ibrahim Khaled, the maverick managing director of the state-owned Sonali Bank, the man they found difficult to deal with.
' Khaled, a career commercial banker, was made a deputy gov-
' emor at the central bank Tuesday. replacing M I Khan, in charge of banking services.
i Only eight months ago. he had taken over at Sonali Bank. Bangladesh's largest commercial bank, and is due to retire in October next year. Khan, originally an income tax official, will return to government as an additional secretary
According to documents obtained by "Hie Daily Star and some highly-placed sources, this was one incident that showed how vested interests are firotected. and how moneyed in-unessmen and politicians
work their way through the corridors of power in Bangladesh.
The pressure put by an amazing combination of various interest groups, which included top industrialists, powerful ministers. CBA leaders and a well-known foreign consultant, could not be withstood by the prime minister, who apparently gave up after holding the file for about three weeks.
And it all happened despite the fact that the person concerned enjoyed the trust and confidence of the prime minister. who called him to her office to discuss the situation in the country’s banking sector. The prime minister did not discuss nis transfer. PMO sources said.
In the past one month, a powerful minister called Khaled thrice to plead for particular businesses. Sources close to Khaled said he failed to
respond to ministerial requests because they were not viable proposals.
One of the top porcelain manufacturers, owned by the family of a former chamber leader, was disappointed as the Sonali Bank refused the company a Tk 51 crore project loan against a credit line offered by a German bank.
The managing director said in his memorandum to the Board that another company owned by the sponsors of the loan-seeking enterprise had defaulted in repaying loans worth more than Tk 100 crore with Agrani Bank. Originally sanctioned by the Bangladesh Shilpa Bank, the loan was later purchased by Agrani Bank. On July 13. the amount overdue was Tk 10.66 crore.
The Board accepted I he MD's suggestion by rejecting the loan proposal.
A Narayanganj-based well-known businessman and his brother were failing to move the managing director to their advantage.
The businessman, who sat on the Boards of three state-owned banks on nomination by the past two governments, is a generous gift-giver. Much to his dismay, costly gifts sent to the MD and other directors have been rejected several times.
The total amount of loans he defaulted with different banks is difficult to calculate. But the amount of interests against overdue loans he managed to get written off recently is a staggering Tk 4.03 crore, according to an inquiry.
According to one estimate, he owes about Tk 107 crore to the banking system in Bangladesh.
He began his business with imports of palm oil. soda ash and coconut oil and now owns at least 20 enterprises.
In April this year, a young businessman after failing to get his loan application approved abused Khaled in his office and threatened to remove him. *1 will see how you can stay here." Khan Mohammad Amir of the Padma Group reportedly told him.
Amir was seeking a Tk 8.71 crore BMRE loan for Padma Polycotton Knit Fabrics Ltd. a one-year-old project, when he had been refused a Tk one-crore loan for the same purpose less than five months ago. Khaled said in a letter to the Banking Secretary. The managing director also pointed out that the project loan had been given onlya year ago.
The lobbyists sought to convince the prime minister by branding him a "negative banker* and a 'bureaucrat by character". according to PMO sources. 'He Is enough to ruin the process of industrialisation. they were learnt to have told the prime minister.
Khaled's response to the criticism was plain and aimpie. "If the proposals are not viable, then 1 am negative,* he told this correspondent at hie office
Tuesday as he unfolded his transfer order late afternoon after a lengthy Board meeting, likely to be his last as managing i rector.
As they came out of the Sonali Bank building, at least two members of the Board also confirmed that it was the work of the loan defaulters.
Inside the boardroom, the directors expressed regret at Khaled's removal. “We feel offended because of two reasons: first, we were not consulted and second, he is being asked to leave only after eight months in office when we were just beginning to grow as a good team," the directors were quoted to have said at the meeting.
Said a top civil servant, who had knowledge of the events that led to Khaled's exit from the Sonali Bank: “They are the same group which has played foul with the system for many years.*
Khaled was facing similar problems way back in 1990 when the then President H M Ershad sought to "teach him a lesson". An inquiry failed to frame charges against him. but before another Inquiry could finish its task, Ershad was gone.
Then a general manager at Agrani Bank and acting president of Bangladesh Economic Association, he told a seminar that industrial growth in the 80 s did not match the growth of bank loans and that the situation had been better in the 70's.
The lobbyists' task however remained unfinished as far as their agenda were concerned.
The man. who is replacing Khaled, is no less reputed for what Khaled is known in the business circles - equally tough in dealing with those going the wrong way. Mahbubur Rahman Khan, a former deputy governor of Bangladesh Bank, was uncer emoniously removed from office 14 months ago and made an officer on special duty at the finance ministry. Four months later, he was forced into retirement. but was restored to Job as OSD in February after a High Court order.
The authorities had charged him with being involved in
"irregularities" in the approval of some non-banking financial institutions. An angry finance minister then had accused Khan of acting against the interest of the country.
However, his rating was much better with the prime minister. In fact. Khan's emergence as an option changed her mind.
The Banking Division had sent the file to the PMO with proposals to transfer Khaled and replace him with someone who the Prime minister did not endorse as Sonali Bank MD. She agreed when Khan’s name was proposed.
The finance minister was learnt to have argued unsuccessfully with the prime minister against Khan's appointment saying it would be embarrassing for him. The prime minister ignored his advice, according to PMO sources.
Asked, the finance minister said Tuesday the government decision to put him at the helm of the Sonali Bank came after a review of his circumstances. "We reviewed his position and then we decided to make use of his experiences and banking ability, he said.
Khaled will probably continue to head the so-called task force, assigned to suggest steps to deal with the notorious trade unions tn state-owned banks. CBA leaders are alleged to have often been involved even in loan approval process.
Sonali's CBA and the Bank Employees Federation had protested the formation of the task force, which is supposed to finish its task soon.
Khaled said he hoped to submit the report by this month.