Islami Bank dismisses eight top officials

Islami Bank, under the control of the S Alam Group, has removed eight senior officials from their positions amid pressure following the fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government.

Among those dismissed are one additional managing director, JQM Habibullah; five deputy managing directors, Akiz Uddin, Mohammad Sabbir, Miftah Uddin, Kazi Md Rezaul Karim and Md Abdullah Al Mamun; and two divisional heads, Chief Anti-Money Laundering Officer Taher Ahmed Chowdhury and Principal of the Training Institute Nazrul Islams, Prothom Alo reports, citing bank sources.

Sources indicate that the ousted executives were closely aligned with Saiful Islam, the owner of the group. Among them were Saiful’s private secretary, Akiz, and Miftah, who oversaw the bank’s loan disbursement.  

In the wake of the Hasina-led government’s recent fall, officials at Islami Bank initiated a movement aimed at “freeing the bank from the influence of S Alam Group and Patia.”

They are calling for the dissolution of the bank’s board of directors and the prosecution of those implicated in irregularities related to loan distribution.

Over the past seven years, approximately 10,000 officers from Saiful’s home district of Patia, Chittagong have been appointed to the bank.

Since the government’s collapse, officials aligned with S Alam Group have been unable to return to the bank.

However, on Sunday and Monday, the bank’s Managing Director (MD), Muhammad Munirul Mawla, came to the office.

Shortly thereafter, the bank decided to dismiss the implicated officials.

A dismissed officer was quoted as telling the Bangla daily that the dismissal letters were issued on Sunday, with the recipients being informed on Monday.

Attempts to reach the bank’s MD, Mawla, for a statement were unsuccessful, the daily reported.

In 2017, under a political decision by the Hasina-led government, Islami Bank was brought under the control of the S Alam Group, a business conglomerate closely associated with the now-ousted government.

This move was part of an initiative to make the bank "Jamaat-free," according to the report.

Over the next seven and a half years, S Alam Group, along with the Rajshahi-based Nabil Group, reportedly withdrew approximately Tk 500 billion from the bank through various means, both transparent and obscure.

This sum accounts for one-third of the bank’s total loans.

Bank officials believe that the actual amount of money laundered from the institution may be even higher than what is currently reported.