This time, the Saudi Arabian company Arabsus Travel and Tourist Agency has withdrawn from the management of Islami Bank Bangladesh PLC. However, the company has not yet sold the shares. Earlier, the government institution Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB) withdrew from the management by giving up the entire share of Islami Bank.
Before that, several foreign companies sold the shares of Islami Bank. In 2017, S Alam Group of Chittagong took control of the bank and started selling these shares. S Alam Group took sole control of the bank by buying these shares. However, the report of Bangladesh Bank has said that the bank is now suffering from a liquidity crisis due to various irregularities. In a letter of Islami Bank sent to the Dhaka Stock Exchange this week, it is said that the Saudi Arabia-based company Arabsus Travel and Tourist Agency sent a letter on July 5 saying that they will not hold the position of director of Islami Bank.
It was then approved by the Board of Directors meeting on July 26. Musaid Abdullah A Al-Raji served as the director of the for a long time on behalf of Arabsas. Islami Bank is owned by Arabsus Travel to the tune of 9.99 percent.
Apart from this, various companies of S Alam Group have swapped shares among themselves and changed representatives on the board. Appointed shareholder directors Abu Saeed Mohammad Kasem of Armada Spinning Mills, Shawkat Hossain of Kingsway Endeavors, and Jamal Mostafa Chowdhury of UniGlobe Business Resources in July. These 3 institutions have 11 percent shares in Islami Bank.
Earlier in June, these companies withdrew from the management of the bank. Professor Nazmul Hasan, Professor Salim Uddin, and former army officer Abdul Mateen were nominated directors of these three companies in the bank board at that time.
Ahsanul Alam, son of Mohammad Saiful Alam, chairman of Junei S. Alam Group, was appointed as the nominated representative of JMC Builders as shareholder director and chairman of the bank.
It is known that since its establishment in 1983, various individuals and institutions related to Jamaat-e-Islami have managed the bank smoothly until 2011. In November 2011, the capital market regulatory body BSEC made new rules, to become a director in a listed company, the director must have at least 2 percent of the company’s shares. After making this provision, the exclusive dominance of Jamaat-related individuals and institutions in the bank declined somewhat.
According to the related sources, Chittagong-based S Alam Group bought shares from the market in 2017 and took ownership of the bank by using the opportunity to hold 2 percent shares. After that, many domestic and foreign companies and individuals started to release shares.
However, after Bangladesh Bank’s investigation, various incidents of loan irregularities in Islami Bank came to light, but no action was taken against anyone. The central bank is trying to keep the operations of the bank normal by lending money instead.
Islami Bank Managing Director Muhammad Munirul Mawla did not respond when called for more details.
‘Terrible November’ in Islami Bank
The office address of Nabil Grain Crops Limited in the bank records is House No. 9, Road No. 23, B Block, Banani. It was discovered to be a whole home structure after arriving there. Borrower Marts Business Limited’s address is House No. 13, Road No. 17, D Block, Banani. I went there to meet with the Nabil Group headquarters in Rajshahi. However, they do not have any organization called Marts Business Line. By forming two firms with bogus addresses and paperwork, two thousand crore rupees were stolen from Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL).
In total, about 7000 crore rupees have been withdrawn from Islami Bank in various ways. This year, this money was seized in the name of eight institutions. From November 1 to November 17, the maximum amount was removed. The total sum is 2 thousand 460 crores. That is why the officials of the bank are calling this month a ‘terrible November’.
Similarly, these companies have withdrawn Tk 2,320 crore from the private sector Social Islami Bank (SIBL) and First Security Islami Bank. As a result, the institutions’ debt to these three banks has climbed to 9.5 thousand crores. These withdrawals come at a time when the dollar crisis in the banking sector is a major topic of discussion. All this information was found by reviewing the documents of the three banks.
Depositors have withdrawn Tk 18 thousand crores from Islami Bank in one year
Last year, private sector Islami Bank Bangladesh’s deposits decreased by Tk 17,783 crore. That is, in 2022, the depositors have withdrawn this amount from the bank. The last year’s financial report of the bank was published recently and this information was obtained by reviewing that report.
According to the statistics in that report, despite the drop in deposits, the bank granted 11 thousand 430 crores in loans or boosted investment in the previous year. Last year, the bank faced a financial problem as loans increased and deposits declined. According to the report, at the end of last year, the cash flow per share in Islami Bank was negative by around 56 takas.