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Sonali board refuses to take scam responsibility

Staff Correspondent
The board of directors of Sonali Bank yesterday declined to take responsibility for the Hall-Mark Group loan scam, officials said.
At the bank's annual general meeting at its headquarters in the capital, the board also criticised the central bank for its recent recommendation about reconstituting the board.
Some of the board members even raised question whether there was laxity on the part of the Bangladesh Bank in detecting the Tk 3,606-crore scam, an official of Sonali Bank said.
The meeting, presided over by bank Chairman Quazi Baharul Islam, blamed a section of dishonest officials of the bank for the embezzlement by Hall-Mark Group and five other companies from the bank's Ruposhi Bangla Hotel branch.
All members of the board and the top officials of the bank were present at the meeting.
Kashem Humayun, a director of Sonali Bank, however, said the central bank was not criticised at the AGM.
He said the board put the blame on a number of bank officials, and gave more emphasis on realising the money.
A finance ministry representative, who attended the meeting, said the government devised a strategy to recover the loan.
The bank management told the AGM that Hall-Mark had already sent documents to Sonali Bank about mortgaging 46 acres of land against the loan. The Group has also proposed to mortgage another 13 acres.
The group has claimed the mortgage will cover about Tk 2,000 crore of the Tk 2,686 crore it has taken in loan.
But Sonali Bank in its primary evaluation estimated the land price at Tk 600 crore, said an official.
Contacted, a central bank official said there had been no laxity in Bangladesh Bank's supervision. The government can investigate whether there had been any negligence by the Bangladesh Bank.
The central bank usually inspects bank branches once a year if the branches lend 80 percent of the total credit of the bank.
As per rules, the Ruposhi Bangla branch does not come under the purview of the yearly inspection, the BB official added, requesting anonymity.
The BB in its 2010 inspection found that Sonali Bank had an outstanding loan of Tk 55 crore. The inspection revealed irregularities in giving loans to Hall-Mark Group.
Sonali Bank was informed about the irregularities at the time. In reply, the bank said steps were being taken to address the issue, said the central bank official.
He added the BB made fresh inspection in the branch in April this year over allegations that the bank was reluctant to pay acceptancebill.
The primary investigation found that the branch gave Tk 555-crore in loan to Hall-Mark, which is much higher than the group got in 2010.
The detailed investigation found that Tk 3,606 crore was lent through irregularities.