The Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA) has ordered Progressive Life Insurance, a publicly listed life insurance company, to settle all outstanding dues to its former company secretary and chief executive officer Zahir Uddin.
IDRA issued the directive in a letter sent on Thursday.
The letter stated that the explanation provided by Progressive Life Insurance regarding the financial claims of Zahir had been reviewed by the IDRA. The company's explanation was deemed unacceptable because it failed to provide any supporting documents.
The letter noted that the company's actions constituted a delay in complying with the authority's legitimate directives, which is tantamount to defiance of a lawful order.
The documents submitted by Zahir were found to have a legal basis, supporting his claims. As a result, the IDRA ordered the company to settle Zahir’s lawful and reasonable dues and issue him a clearance certificate.
The company was also instructed to inform the authority upon completion of this process, failure of which would lead to legal action against those responsible.
In a written statement, Zahir recently expressed his frustration to The Business Post, stating that despite seeking justice from various institutions, he had yet to receive any redress.
He said that the absence of a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from Progressive Life Insurance had prevented him from applying for jobs at other companies in line with the IDRA's GID 14 circular. He noted that the IDRA's directive would make it easier for him to obtain the NOC.
In a statement, Zahir claimed that after he was appointed CEO of Progressive Life Insurance, the company’s Vice Chairman Bazlur Rashid became desperate to return to the position of chairman.
After being removed from the chairman’s post in 2014, Bazlur demanded reimbursement of Tk 2 crore in legal fees as mentioned in Company Matter No 375/14, and managed to extract Tk 20 lakh from the company in 2019.
Zahir rejected his subsequent proposal to recover the remaining Tk 1.8 crore, leading to a conflict between them.
Zahir accused IDRA Member (Life) Quamrul Hasan of forcing him to pay bribes on multiple occasions and threatening to tamper with and destroy various documents of Progressive Life Insurance.
He alleged that on August 30, 2022, Quamrul summoned him through his former acquaintance Humayun Kabir, the former AMD (Development) of Progressive Life Insurance, and offered to settle the matter with a bribe.
Quamrul’s Personal Assistant Ashiful later demanded money from Zahir on several occasions, including a request for Tk 1 lakh on June 11, 2023, just before Eid-ul-Azha.
Subsequently, on June 18, 2023, the IDRA declared Zahir’s appointment as CEO of Progressive Life Insurance illegal. Following this, on June 25, 2023, Bazlur appointed Shahjahan Azadi, an irregular field officer (on a commission basis) based in Chittagong, as the CEO of the Board of Directors, replacing Zahir, who then left the company.
Despite multiple demands for his rightful dues, the IDRA only issued its directive on Thursday.
