Home ›› 15 Dec 2022 ›› Front
The Bangladesh Bank has unearthed severe irregularities in the NRB
Commercial Bank, involving expenditure, procurement, and recruitment procedures.
A special inspection report, of which The Business Post obtained a copy, stated that the bank’s Chairman Parvez Tamal and Managing Director Golam Awlia are directly involved in such irregularities.
It further mentions that the private bank had created a company named NRBC Management Ltd, and then violated central bank regulations by recruiting office assistants, peons and other contractual staff through this company for NRBC Bank.
The bank [NRBC] did not invite any tender for those service purchases, which is also a violation of its [NRBC’s] own rules, adds the report.
It says that nine among sixteen sponsor directors of NRBC Management Ltd are also directors of the NRBC Bank, despite the company not being a subsidiary, which is contradictory to and a violation of central bank regulations.
Bank Chairman Parvez Tamal is directly involved in those irregularities, the central bank report reads, adding, Recruitment in the bank through the company continues to rise, the amount of service charges is also going up. The bank’s expenditures have increased too.
When the bank signed a contract with the NRBC Management Ltd in March 2021, its Managing Director Golam Awlia signed the deal, indicating his involvement with such irregularities, it adds.
Moreover, the central bank inspection team found that the bank Chairman Parvez Tamal has been using two offices in Gulshan and Motijheel, which is a violation of central bank rules. The bank management committee is involved with the irregularities.
The private bank recruited three retired military officers as permanent officials of the bank without any banking experience, and the move violates banking rules.
Banking experience from three to twenty years is mandatory for appointing permanent officials by rank, Bangladesh Bank officials told The Business Post.
The central bank report further said the bank spent a large amount of money on its board of directors’ meetings under expenditures and honorariums by violating the central bank rules.
The Bangladesh Bank team inspected the bank between 24 April and 24 May this year.
When approached for comments, NRBC Bank’s Managing Director Golam Awlia said, “It is right that the central bank has found some minor irregularities in our bank, but those issues are very old.”
The Business Post made multiple attempts to reach the bank’s Chairman Parvez Tamal over call and text, but he did not respond to any queries till the filing of this report.
This bank was granted the licence to operate in 2013. The regulator in December 2017 removed the then NRBC Bank managing director Dewan Mujibur Rahman for corruption. Its former chairman Farasath Ali had served as a president of the ruling Awami League’s US chapter.
In 2017, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) quizzed the bank’s chairman Ali on allegations of corruption.
