1 week Ago
First Security Islami Bank PLC has sent its managing director on a forced leave over his alleged involvement in irregularities centring loans provided to companies linked with S Alam Group. The bank's board of directors at a meeting yesterday approved the forced leave of Syed Waseque Md Ali from January 5 to April 4 this year. Abu Reza Md Yeahia, additional managing director of the bank, has been tasked with serving as the managing director during this period.
On being contacted, Mohammad Abdul Mannan, independent director and chairman of the bank, said the bank sent Ali on a forced leave as a special audit would be conducted. Ali did not receive phone calls from The Daily Star for comment till filing of this report last night. He was appointed to the post in March 2015.
Officials of the bank said an internal audit found his involvement in loan irregularities concerning S Alam Group, for which he was sent on a forced leave. The audit report cited one instance of a loan facility of Tk 40 crore being provided in favour of M/S Times Securities Ltd from the bank's Dilkusha branch whose manager at that time was Ali. The company's chairman is Farzana Begum and managing director Marzina Sharmin, both sisters-in-law of Mohammed Saiful Alam, chairman of S Alam Group, stated the report.
Moreover, as of September 2024, 56 percent of the bank's loans were disbursed to companies linked to S Alam Group, according to an internal inspection of the bank. In other words, those companies account for Tk 33,791 crore of the bank's Tk 60,272 crore loan portfolio. These loans were disbursed through 24 of the bank's branches in Chattogram to over 100 trading companies linked to S Alam Group, according to bank officials involved in assessing the commercial lender's exposure to the business conglomerate.
Mohammed Saiful Alam, chairman of S Alam Group, who was close to deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina, was also chairman of the bank. After the fall of Hasina's government on August 5 last year, Bangladesh Bank reconstituted the boards of directors of 11 banks, including that of First Security Islami Bank. First Security Islami Bank PLC has sent its managing director on a forced leave over his alleged involvement in irregularities centring loans provided to companies linked with S Alam Group.
The bank's board of directors at a meeting yesterday approved the forced leave of Syed Waseque Md Ali from January 5 to April 4 this year. Abu Reza Md Yeahia, additional managing director of the bank, has been tasked with serving as the managing director during this period. On being contacted, Mohammad Abdul Mannan, independent director and chairman of the bank, said the bank sent Ali on a forced leave as a special audit would be conducted.
Ali did not receive phone calls from The Daily Star for comment till filing of this report last night. He was appointed to the post in March 2015. Officials of the bank said an internal audit found his involvement in loan irregularities concerning S Alam Group, for which he was sent on a forced leave.
The audit report cited one instance of a loan facility of Tk 40 crore being provided in favour of M/S Times Securities Ltd from the bank's Dilkusha branch whose manager at that time was Ali. The company's chairman is Farzana Begum and managing director Marzina Sharmin, both sisters-in-law of Mohammed Saiful Alam, chairman of S Alam Group, stated the report. Moreover, as of September 2024, 56 percent of the bank's loans were disbursed to companies linked to S Alam Group, according to an internal inspection of the bank.
In other words, those companies account for Tk 33,791 crore of the bank's Tk 60,272 crore loan portfolio. These loans were disbursed through 24 of the bank's branches in Chattogram to over 100 trading companies linked to S Alam Group, according to bank officials involved in assessing the commercial lender's exposure to the business conglomerate. Mohammed Saiful Alam, chairman of S Alam Group, who was close to deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina, was also chairman of the bank.
After the fall of Hasina's government on August 5 last year, Bangladesh Bank reconstituted the boards of directors of 11 banks, including that of First Security Islami Bank..
