2 more Sonali Bank officers found involved

Two more general managers of Sonali Bank have been accused of irregularities in giving loans of Tk 2,638 crore.
The board of the state-run commercial bank at a meeting Tuesday night decided to take action against them, complying with a Bangladesh Bank directive, the bank officials said.
Mir Mohidur Rahman, general manager of the bank's Ruposhi Bangla Hotel branch, has been made officer on special duty (OSD) and attached to the head office. Another former GM, Mahbubul Haque, has been held responsible. He has been on leave preparatory to retirement (LPR) from December last year.
A BB inspection team had found that the branch gave loans of Tk 2,638.21 crore to three little-known companies, including Hallmark Group, and that there was uncertainty as to whether the bank could recover the money.
BB on May 21 gave Sonali Bank Chairman Kazi Baharul Islam a 17-point directive along with the inspection report for necessary steps against the people behind the irregularities.
Three days later, Sonali Bank held a special board meeting and issued directives to attach AKM Azizur Rahman, deputy general manager of the bank's Ruposhi Bangla Hotel branch, and Saiful Hasan, assistant general manager of the same branch, to Sonali Bank's head office.
The board observed that the branch in an inventive way had given the loans and the bank's top management at the head office had been engaged in the process.
The board in its observation also quoted the central bank report as saying the responsibility of the GM office and senior management at the bank's head office for the irregularities had to be determined.
An external special auditor has to be appointed to identify the people whose carelessness caused the irregularities, it said.
According to the central bank's inspection, the loans were sanctioned against fake export documents and vouchers.