MD MEHEDI HASAN

The Bangladesh Bank (BB) has unearthed fresh loan irregularities at Islami Bank Bangladesh, even after the board of directors was restructured following the fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led government in August last year.

The banking regulator found the involvement of Md Abdul Jalil, independent director and executive committee chairman of the bank, in these loan irregularities.

After detecting the rule violations, the central bank on January 12 asked the chairman of the bank to provide an explanation within five working days.

LOAN IRREGULARITIES

Prior approval from the central bank is now mandatory for Islami Bank to disburse loans of over Tk 5 crore, according to a central bank inspection report.

However, the commercial lender’s executive committee, on December 10 last year, approved a loan rescheduling facility of Tk 210 crore and a fresh loan of Tk 40 crore as working capital for TRU Fabrics Ltd, said the report.

The probe report reviewed a relevant executive committee memo. It showed that the rescheduling and fresh proposals were presented before the bank’s executive committee without any approval from the central bank.

Md Abdul Jalil, chairman of the executive committee, is liable for the irregularities, the report stated.

He worked as a finance advisor at TRU Fabrics Ltd and its associate company, Unifill Textile Mills Ltd, for more than six years before joining the bank as a board member, as per the BB probe.

The Shariah-based bank cancelled both the loan rescheduling and loan approvals on December 23 last year.

However, the fresh fund was allowed to be withdrawn between December 10 and December 26, which is a serious irregularity, according to the BB inspection report.