Star Business Report

The High Court has asked four government agencies to explain why they failed to investigate the corruption allegations against the chief of the Insurance Development & Regulatory Authority (IDRA).

A High Court bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Md Mostafizur Rahman issued the rule on Tuesday on a writ petition filed on October 28 by Abu Saleh Mohammad Amin Mehedi.

The finance ministry, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), the National Board of Revenue, and the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit were made respondents to the rule.

Concrete evidence was found that IDRA Chairman M Mosharraf Hossain invested around Tk 4 crore using the gratuity and the provident funds of the two companies, namely Loves & Lives Organics, and Gulshan Valley Agro Industries, said the petition.

The four funds are still active in both the primary and secondary markets of the capital market, and a portion of the funds was invested in Padma Islami Life Insurance as of September 30 last year.

Recently, all four funds applied for and were allotted shares in the initial public offering of Sena Kalyan Insurance Company, said the petition.

The two companies are stated to be non-operative in their income tax returns. Yet, the funds together hold an investment portfolio of Tk 4 crore built over the past two to three years.

In order for the employees’ funds to have such an extent of investment, which is comprised of the contributions from employees and employers, the total salary bill of the two firms ought to be Tk 33 crore over the past two years.