Bangladesh: How ex-pm Hasina's advisor looted 6.9 mn over the past 15 years

With the backing of the ousted government, two controversial businessmen, Salman F Rahman and Saiful Alam Masud, managed to loot approximately TK82,000 crore (6.9 million) from various banks in the country through their numerous organizations.

According to sources, by accumulating money through often unethical means, Salman F Rahman was able to take TK36,865 crore ever since the Awami League came into power in 2009, while S Alam’s meteoric business expansions helped his family gain TK45,000 crore in a very short amount of time.

With Salman F Rahman arrested in the capital’s Sadarghat area on Tuesday (Aug 13) and S Alam's hold on his businesses weakening following the ouster of the Awami League regime, regulators are finally beginning to take a stand against corruption.

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) on Wednesday (Aug 14) sought after details of the bank accounts of his family members of industrialist Mohammad Saiful Alam, popularly known as S Alam.

The Tax Zone-15 of the revenue authority wrote a letter to 91 banks and non-bank financial institutions asking them to provide details of accounts of S Alam's wife Farzana Parvin, mother Chemon Ara Begum, and brother Abdullah Hasan.

Additionally, authorities have requested details of the bank accounts belonging to their parents, children, siblings, other family members, and any organisations they own.

Notably, as former private sector adviser to former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and vice-chairman of Beximco Group, Salman F Rahman and companies associated with him owe around Tk36,865 crore to seven banks in the country.

The banks implicated are Janata Bank, Sonali Bank, Rupali Bank, Agrani Bank, National Bank, IFIC Bank, and AB Bank.

From state-owned Janata Bank, Beximco Group alone utilised the entire lending capacity of the bank by taking loans totaling around Tk23,070 crore as of August 14, 2024.

Janata bank continued to finance Beximco-owned companies even after exceeding the single borrower exposure limit through taking special permission from the central bank.

As of August 14, Beximco Group has overdue loans amounting to $56 million from the Export Development Fund (EDF) in foreign currency, provided by Janata Bank. EDF loans are drawn from the foreign exchange reserve and are extended to exporters at a very low interest rate of 3% to 4%.

Despite these issues, Janata Bank did not take any action against Beximco Group and continued to provide financing until Salman F Rahman was arrested following the downfall of the Hasina government.

Bangladesh Bank suspended EDF financing with Janata Bank a year ago due to the overdue loans from Beximco Group.

While IFIC Bank also holds several smaller loans linked to Salman F Rahman.

Interestingly, these companies have secured around Tk150 crore to Tk200 crore in loans from the bank within 6 months to a year of their establishment.

Under his chairmanship, he allegedly abused the bank's resources through financial engineering.
Salman F. Rahman's company Bloom Success International Limited has debts from National Bank totaling Tk836 crore.

Additionally, Beximco LPG Unit 1-2 owes Tk1,293 crore in loans from National Bank, and Salman's Beximco Group owes Tk823 crore.

New Bangladesh Bank governor to eliminate corruption

Newly-appointed Bangladesh Bank governor Dr Ahsan H Mansur on Wednesday strictly warned money launderers.

While addressing his first press conference, the governor said, “Those involved in money laundering in the country will not be allowed to sleep peacefully, as they will be held accountable under the law.”

He added, “The money will be recovered from money launderers through sustained efforts. To prevent money laundering, we will collaborate with authorities and enforce both domestic and international laws.”

(With inputs from agencies)