Sur Chowdhury denies corruption allegations
Former Bangladesh Bank deputy governor SK Sur Chowdhury yesterday said that the corruption allegations raised against him were "completely false".
Chowdhury made this comment at a hearing arranged by a fact-finding committee of the Bangladesh Bank, which is investigating the recent financial scandals at some non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs).
He, however, declined to comment further to this end.
Earlier, two close associates of PK Halder confessed to a Dhaka court that Chowdhury had assisted them in conducting financial scams.
Halder, who is believed to be living in Canada after fleeing from Bangladesh, misappropriated huge amounts of funds from four NBFIs and laundered the money abroad using 30 organisations, owned by him and his associates.
Along with Chowdhury, SM Moniruzzaman, another former deputy governor, and M Mahfuzur Rahman, a former executive director, also attending the hearing at the central bank headquarters in Dhaka.
The two officials played different roles in monitoring NBFIs before going on to retire, like Chowdhury.
Moniruzzaman told reporters that there were no concrete allegations against him.
"I have come here as per the requirement of the committee," he said.
The committee is now working on the scam at the Bangladesh Industrial Finance Company (BIFC).
In a 2016 probe, the BB found some former directors of the BIFC to be largely responsible for the institution's financial crisis.
The financial health of the BIFC, established in 1998 by a group of entrepreneurs led by Abdul Mannan, started to decline in 2008.
The central bank found that scammers embezzled Tk 518 crore from the BIFC between 2005 and 2015 in the form of loans against 53 fictitious companies and individuals.
BB removed Mannan's wife Umme Kulsum Mannan, also a former BIFC chairman, and their two daughters from the BIFC board between 2015 and 2016 for their alleged involvement in sanctioning loans unlawfully.
The committee, led by Bangladesh Bank Deputy Governor AKM Sajedur Rahman Khan, was established on February 17 and is looking into the scams that occurred at the NBFIs in recent years.
The central bank formed the committee as per a High Court instruction.
At least 10 NBFIs are in dire straits due to massive irregularities. Many of them have been unable to pay back depositors, despite the maturity of their fund.
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