Probe ordered into Tk350cr loan scam of AB Bank

The High Court on Wednesday ordered a probe into a complaint regarding an alleged Tk 350 crore loan approved by AB Bank to a nonexistent company named “Brandshare Trading.”

A bench of justices Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Khizir Hayat gave the Suo Moto order after taking cognisance of a report published in several national dailies, including in The Business Post, regarding this issue.

The HC bench asked the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), central bank’s Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) and Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of police to conduct an investigation, and submit a report within the next three months.

The court also issued another rule seeking explanation on why the inaction of concerned parties against those involved in the alleged loan approval will not be declared illegal, and why legal action should not be taken after identifying them.

The ACC chairman, the governor of Bangladesh Bank, the secretary of the finance ministry and the secretary of the Banking and Financial Institutions division of the finance ministry, BFIU, CID, AB bank’s managing director has been asked to respond to the rule within two weeks.

A recent article by The Business Post revealed that AB Bank, the country’s first private sector bank, approved Tk 350 crore in loans to Brandshare Trading Ltd, a shell company, by violating banking rules and regulations, as per a BFIU inspection report.

During the submission of the loan applications on January 10 this year, the manager and other officials of the bank’s Gulshan branch helped Brandshare get the massive amount by filing a fake audit report. It said the loans were approved on February 9 through corruption and forgery.

It points out that the loans were approved through collaborative efforts of the private commercial bank’s executive management and Board of Directors and Infratech Construction Company Ltd Managing Director (MD) and CEO Mohammad Ali Haider Ratan.

The loans’ actual beneficiary is a person named Ratan, but Brandshare Trading’s registration and trade licence have been made using the names of Md Ataur Rahman and Md Mamunur Rashid.