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BASIC Bank: Blatantly looted

Central bank's probe into 3 branches finds gross anomalies in loan approvals; report sent to ACC

Rejaul Karim Byron and MD Fazlur Rahman
The central bank has sent a report on the financial scam at BASIC Bank to the AntiCorruption Commission, detailing how borrowers embezzled money from the state lender through fake companies and suspected accounts.
Bangladesh Bank sent the report to the anti-graft body on Tuesday, after concluding a special inspection into the scam in the first week of this month.
The central bank first inspected BASIC Bank's Gulshan, Shantinagar and Dilkusha branches in 2012 and found evidence of serious anomalies in approving loans.
Dilkusha branch, for example, doled out Tk 683 crore in loans to 16 borrowers, all of whom took the money through illegal means.
One borrower, Asif Iqbal, proprietor of Reliance Shipping Lines, opened a current account with the branch on December 4, 2011. Nahid Enterprise was the identifier.
But both the companies are fake, said the BB report.
The board approved another loan ofTk 16 crore in 2012. The borrower withdrew the money in the name of purchasing ships through four pay orders. The money ended up in the accounts of otherbanks.
Through one pay order, Gazi Auto Bricks got Tk 1.5 crore. Five individuals named Shakil, Aziz, Erfan, Opu and Bipu withdrew the amount from the account.
In another incident, Md Rashedul Hasan, managing director of Simex Ltd, opened a current account with the same branch in December 2010. The board, then led by Abdul Hye Bacchu, approved another loan of Tk 7.9 crore three months later. The branch, however, did not find the borrower's residence, office and factory.
Against all these loans, the central bank's special inspection found no business transactions, as the money was withdrawn by individuals from the credit accounts in cash.
Sahara Import Ltd withdrew Tk 12 crore, without any business purpose, within 12 days of the sanction of the Ioan.
RK Food Ltd was given a loan of Tk 69.85 crore without assessing its business transaction and capacity of the firm. It withdrew Tk 40 crore within four months from Gulshan and Shantinagar branches of the bank.
"The then branch manager helped embezzle the money. It was clear that the money was embezzled in connivance with the client and the authorities of the bank," said the central bank report.
The 47-page report, which includes a list of borrowers, gives a detailed picture of how the loans were approved and withdrawn in clear violations of rules.
In Gulshan branch, 12 clients took outTk 297 crore through pay orders or in cash.
One client, SFG Shipping Line, was given a loan of Tk 37.54 crore. He
transferred the money to five companies, with accounts with other banks, through pay orders. All these companies are fake.
The report also contains a list of 40 pay orders that were transferred from a number of loan accounts at Shantinagar branch to suspected accounts in the same branch in 2012. Each pay order transferred funds between Tk 50 lakh and Tk 1 crore.
The central bank suspects a chunk of Tk 4,500 crore embezzled from BASIC Bank has gone out of the country, officials said.
The report was also sent to the antimoney laundering unit of Bangladesh Bank to see whether the money was laundered.
The latest inspection was aimed at identifying the actual beneficiaries of the scam by digging deep into specific accounts.
The report said the BASIC Bank's board and its credit committee at the headquarters ignored the negative observation from branches on a number of loan proposals and approved them without following due diligence.
At least on one occasion, BASIC Bank flouted instructions from the central bank.
The central bank had ordered the state bank to submit a report containing details of loans beyond Tk 1 crore, but the report never reached the BB, according to the report.