20 plates of rice, 118 plates of curries for a lunch of 4!

NRBC Bank's top managers have great appetites. 

On October 24, 2016, the executive committee (EC) of the bank's board held its 56th meeting with four people in attendance. The four were the then EC chairman Md Manzurul Islam, then managing director Dewan Mujibur Rahman and then board members Farasath Ali and Loquit Ullah.

The lunch, at Kasturi Garden in Gulshan, cost the bank Tk 41,091, according to a copy of the bill obtained by The Daily Star.

The bill lists 20 plates of rice and 118 plates of curries – 18 plates of full chicken bhuna dishes, 18 plates of Chitol kofta curries, 17 plates of beef achari curries, 16 plates of Taki fish bhorta balls, 17 plates of Batashi fish curries, 17 plates of mixed vegetables and 15 plates of thick daal. 

There were also two crates of water bottles and 20 bottles of coke on the bill. Their four drivers were not part of the feast, and got Tk 300 each for lunch.

This is a violation of Bank Company Law, which says directors cannot take any financial or other benefits other than the regular fees for joining the EC meeting.

Four months later on February 16, 2017, the executive committee had its 61st meeting, and eight people spent Tk 48,691 on lunch, "eating" 16 plates each of Hilsa, prawn curry, mutton karahi and prawn bhorta; 17 plates each of Rupchanda, butter chicken and rice each; and 16 plates of daal, a Bangladesh Bank investigation found.

The total meeting budget, including the members' fees, refreshments and other miscellaneous expenses, was overspent by Tk 45,670.

A month later, eight people sitting at the 62nd executive committee meeting spent Tk 67,137 on lunch.

A Bangladesh Bank observer was present at both the 61st and 62nd executive committee meetings, according to the vouchers.

There was no lunch at the 55th board meeting on June 18, 2017, but the nine members who attended the meeting got 35 baskets of fruit worth over Tk 2 lakh, receipts show.

These "appetites" did not diminish in the month of Ramadan.

On May 28, 2019, eight directors "consumed" 60 iftar boxes at the 81st board meeting, costing the bank over Tk 62,100, according to the receipts. 

A staggering Tk 1,16,525 was spent to "feed" 11 people during the 75th board meeting and the 80th EC meeting, both on December 12, 2018. Receipts show lunch bill was submitted for 37 people instead of the 11 present.

All of these were revealed in an investigation by Bangladesh Bank's Financial Integrity and Customer Services Department (FICSD), which inspected 20 expenditure records from 2013 onwards and stated that there had been clear violations of the Bank Company Law.

"No bank director shall take from the bank any financial or other privilege except the regular fees for participation in the meetings of the Executive Board of the bank," the law says.

The Daily Star is also in possession of the expenditure receipts of 13 more top executive committee meetings and board meetings happening between 2017 and 2020. They all show the bank squandered money by overbilling the meals in varying degrees. 

"Such high expenditures are harmful for the depositors," the FICSD concluded, and requested the Regulation and Policy Department to take action.

NRBC Chairman Tamal Parvez, who was present in some of these meetings, termed it a tradition.

"Check on other banks, you will find them spending lakhs of taka. My bank spends the least," he said.

"I have taken action and ordered that a maximum of fifteen people are catered to during board meetings -- the 12 board members and three others," he said.