General investors and a segment of depositors at Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd PLC (IBBL) have written a letter to the governor of Bangladesh Bank, demanding that the existing IBBL board of directors be dissolved.
Besides, former directors of Social Islami Bank Limited (SIBL) have also written to the central bank raising several demands.
The regulator received these letters on Sunday, and The Business Post obtained copies of these documents. It should be noted that the banks are being controlled by the controversial conglomerate S Alam Group.
One of the letters, written on behalf of ordinary shareholders and signed by general shareholder M Kamal Uddin Jasim, stated, “The IBBL remains marred with irregularities and corruption for years.
“As a result, trust among the depositors and shareholders have been broken. The letter demanded that the IBBL board be dissolved to free the bank from corruption.”
Another letter, sent to the central bank on behalf of depositors and signed by a depositor Syed Mejbah Uddin Mahin, read, “The IBBL has been providing financial services to the general investors for a long time.
“But with the connivance of some of its directors and dishonest officials, it became a vehicle for money laundering. So the Bangladesh Bank should dissolve the IBBL board as per the article 47 of the Bank Company Law to free it of corruption.”
A letter, signed by shareholder Tofazzel Hossain, read, “The S Alam Group has control of 82 per cent of the IBBL's shares.
“As there have been widespread irregularities and corruption in the bank, it is requested to take measures so that they [incumbent directors] cannot sell the shares without any investigation first.”
Signed by SIBL former directors Major (Retd) D Rejaul Haque, Md Anisul Haque, and Md Abdur Rahman, another letter sent to the Bangladesh Bank read, “The classified loans in SIBL currently amounts to Tk 9,000 crore, but the bank's money is still being withdrawn in the name of S Alam and its various subsidiaries.
“So it this malpractice must be stopped quickly.”
The bank has been taken over by the S Alam group illegally, so the former directors demanded that the illegal incumbent board of SIBL be dissolved, and a new board of directors consisting of sponsor directors and actual shareholders of the bank be formed.
When asked about the letters, a Bangladesh Bank official said on condition of anonymity that after reviewing the internal situation of these banks in the light of these letters appropriate measures will be taken.
