The probe has been initiated following a complaint to the central bank governor by a Malaysian opposition lawmaker, Teresa Kok Suh Sim, on July 28 through her counsel in Dhaka advocate Hasanul Alam.

According to the complaint, Malaysian lawmaker Dato Mohd Zin Bin Mohamed, who claims to be the chairman of Silkways, illegally received funds equivalent to $7 million from Bangladesh. He also occasionally comes to Dhaka to collect his profit and honorarium without permission from the BB.

According to the complaint, Zin is not the chairman of Silkways Cargo Services Ltd., as his name has not been registered with the Registrar of Joint Stock in Dhaka.

"Silkways Cargo Services Ltd. has disbursed honorarium and 49 per cent of profit share monies to Mr. Dato Mohd Zin Bin Mohamed every month since the inception of the GSA," said the complaint, a copy of which has been obtained by The Daily Star.

It has been alleged in the complaint that the original GSA agreement with MAS was signed by Zin as the chairman of Silkways on September 21, 2000. The company, however, obtained clearance from the BB by allegedly hiding the foreign national's presence on the board as Silkways is incorporated in Bangladesh with the Registrar of Joint Stock as a fully Bangladeshi-owned company.

The alleged money-flight scam, considered to be politically sensational for both Bangladesh and Malaysia, took a new twist on September 11 when a shareholder of MAS sued the chairman of Silkways Cargo Services Ltd. of Bangladesh, Zin Mohamed, and MAS in the Malaysian High Court for alleged wrongdoing in under-declaring weight of goods carried by the airlines.

According to the Malaysian national news agency Bernama, Jeyapalan Mahesan, a shareholder of MAS, alleged in his lawsuit that Zin had knowingly represented himself as chairman and owner of Silkways Cargo Services Ltd. But Zin is not a registered member of Silkways board.

Jeyapalan also told the court that Zin has been receiving funds from Bangladesh without informing the relevant authorities in Bangladesh.

BB officials, who are investigating the scam, told The Daily Star that a foreign national could in no way hold the office of chairman in a fully Bangladeshi-owned company registered with the joint stock company.

Another official of the bank's foreign exchange policy department said Malaysian opposition lawmaker Teresa Kok Suh Sim, who had filed the complaint, was scheduled to meet the BB governor on August 30. But she cancelled the appointment later for unknown reasons.

Replying to an e-mailed query from The Daily Star, Teresa said, "My lawyer had set up an appointment with the governor of the central bank and a few other related agencies/personnel. But my trip was cancelled due to the assassination of the opposition leader in Bangladesh (Monzurul Imam in Khulna). My colleagues were worried about my security in your country, so the trip was called off."

Talking to The Daily Star, Managing Director (MD) of Silkways Sk. Farid Ahmed admitted that his company was neither a joint venture, nor did it have any foreign partner.

Asked about Zin Mohamed, the Malaysian lawmaker, the Silkways MD said, "We appointed him as our executive chairman."

Brushing aside allegations of transfer money illegally and sharing 49 per cent of the company profits with Zin, the Silkways MD said, "We don't pay him (Zin) any monthly honorarium, neither does he get any profit. We just keep him as our executive chairman for business development interest."

But The Daily Star obtained a document that shows the 'chairman' of Silkways received Tk 3.94 crore in the last three years. To cite a few examples, the chairman received Tk 8.12 lakh on August 16, 2000, Tk 2.95 lakh on June 12, 2001, Tk 19.52 lakh on May 3, 2002 and Tk 12.25 lakh on July 13, 2003.

Asked whether it is legal to have a lawmaker of another country as company executive chairman, Farid claimed there was nothing wrong.

Apart from the allegations of illegal money transfer, there are accusations against Silkways of paying undue financial benefits to several ministers in Bangladesh.

A ledger of Silkways shows a minister from Chittagong received Tk 342,500 and Tk 50,000 from the GSA in two instalments under 'Donation/Zakat' and 'Business Development' heads. Another minister, also from Chittagong, received Tk 1 lakh under 'Business Development' head while a third one received a free ticket.

The Silkways MD again admitted giving free tickets and Zakat to 'a few ministers' but strongly objected to terming those as bribes.

"We might have given some tickets as gifts and Zakat to some honourable people in the government. Zakat was meant for distribution among the poor in their constituencies. That again, we didn't give it in cash, but in saree and lungi," said Farid, the MD.

He said the costs of 'gift tickets' and Zakat clothes were shown under the 'Business Development' head in the GSA's ledger.

The MD suspected that by launching a campaign against Silkways, the Malaysian opposition MP, Teresa Kok, was trying to politically defame and harass Zin Mohamed, who is the chairman of the Backbenchers' Club in Malaysian parliament.

In April this year, Teresa alleged in Malaysian parliament that Silkways cheated in cargo weight and paid money to MAS officials. She also held a news conference to air her allegations.

Later, a $60 million suit was filed against Teresa, according to Bernama, the Malaysian national news agency. Farid told The Daily Star that the defamation suit has not been settled as yet.