#Title

5 Shariah banks fined Tk 281.3cr
FROM PAGE 1
“Those five banks have been failing to meet CRR and SLR since December last year -- it is not just the odd day here and there,” said a top official of the central bank on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.
For instance, on June 30, Islami Bank had a CRR shortfall of Tk 3,900 crore but it met its SLR requirement.
First Security Islami Bank (FSIBL), whose chairman is S Alam Group Chairman Mohammed Saiful Alam, had a CRR shortfall of Tk 1,400 crore and SLR shortfall of Tk 900 crore, according to data from BB.
That day, Social Islami Bank (SIBL) had Tk 700 crore in CRR shortfall and Tk 1,100 crore in SLR shortfall, Union Bank Tk 600 crore as CRR shortfall and Tk 460 crore as SLR shortfall, and Global Islami Bank (GIB) Tk 360 crore as CRR shortfall and Tk 460 crore as SLR shortfall.
Subsequently, the five banks were fined Tk 5.9 crore for their CRR and SLR shortfall.
Islami Bank’s penalty was Tk 2.9 crore, FSIBL’s Tk 1.3 crore, SIBL’s Tk 79 lakh, Union’s Tk 54 lakh and GIB’s Tk 37 lakh, shows a central bank document.
The banks have been unable to clear their penalty for the first half of the year and have been given until September to do so, The Daily Star has learnt from BB officials involved with the proceedings. They spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.
Earlier in June, when unveiling the monetary policy for the second half of the year, BB Governor Abdur Rouf Talukder named the five banks and said the banks needed to improve their financial health by September.
“We continuously met with those banks about the issue. We imposed fines for their CRR and SLR shortfall but that is not a priority for us. We want those banks to improve their financial health by September,” Talukder said.
Islami Bank, it appears, has already started taking measures to that end.
At the bank’s 324th board meeting held on June 19 -- in which the 28-year-old Ahsanul Alam, the elder son of S Alam Group chairman Alam, was unanimously elected as the chairman -- a decision was taken to tighten the lending activities.
“We have already met our SLR shortfall -- we are now facing CRR shortfall but that would go away soon as well,” said a top executive of Islami Bank on the condition of anonymity as he is not authorised to speak with media.
The current liquidity crisis will end within the deadline imposed by the regulator because the deposit flow is “good now”, he said, adding that the bank’s remittance flow also increased in recent months.
SIBL MD Zafar Alam said acknowledged there are some gaps in the regulatory requirement.
“But we are trying to mend those issues. We are keeping the focus on mobilising deposits,” he said, adding that the banks introduced new deposit products.
The bank, whose chairman Belal Ahmed is the son-in-law of S Alam Group chairman Alam, is not issuing large loans for now, concentrating more on SME and agriculture loans.
“We were always in a good position when it came to deposits, but due to some reports, our deposit base has been adversely affected -- that is why we are in trouble,” said Syed Habib Hasnat, the MD of GIB, which was previously called NRB Global Bank. PK Halder, who is now in a Kolkata jail while he awaits trial on charges of money laundering and embezzlement, was its former MD.
After some media reports, GIB -- whose vice-chairperson Maimuna Khanam is S Alam Group chairman Alam’s daughter -- saw its customers withdraw Tk 1,700 crore in a short span, according to Hasnat.
“We suspended all the lending activities and are requesting those who withdrew their money to come back,” he added.
Union Bank -- whose directors include S Alam Group chairman Alam’s two brothers Osman Goni and Md. Rashedul Alam -- has already met its shortfall and its financial health is improving by the day, according to its MD ABM Mokammel Hoque Chowdhury.
FSIBL MD Syed Waseque Md Ali could not be reached for comment at the time of going to print.
The five banks faced huge cash withdrawal pressure when loan irregularities of Islami Bank came to light after media reports last year. The bank had approved Tk 7,246 crore in loans to nine companies that exist only on paper, as per the reports.

Businessman
FROM PAGE 1
The accused then went on to control the tenders of different offices in Faridpur and other districts using Mosharraf’s former APS Fuad, Barkat, and Rubel’s infamous “helmet bahini” and “haturi bahini”.
The statement further said Siddiqur ran a sand and stone business on grabbed government land near the rail station in Faridpur town. He would also control the district Chambers of Commerce, C&B terminal and Tepakhola Bazar and the cattle market
The complainant also mentioned a long list of land and other properties that Siddiqur acquired using money earned through laundering and other criminal activities.
Those included over 3,287 decimals of land worth Tk 14.2 crore; a three-storey market in Faridpur worth around Tk 3 crore; a brick kiln and auto bricks worth Tk 20 crore; shops and rooms on 500 decimals of land at the C&B terminal worth Tk 15 crore; and a community centre and flat worth Tk 12 crore.
He also has houses, apartments, lands and office space in his, his wife’s and other relatives’ names, the case statement read.
Except for Siddiqur, all the accused are in jail in various other cases.
Speaking to The Daily Star, Siddiqur said, “My father has been in business for 36 years, and I’ve been in it for 27 years. We have tax files. The assets in our tax file are shown as illegally acquired in the case. However, they were gained through honest business and have nothing to do with corruption.”