CID investigating Nafiz Sarafat's 'money laundering'

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the police has started an investigation under the Money Laundering Act amid the ACC's money laundering complaint against Padma Bank's former chairman Chowdhury Nafiz Sarafat.

On Sunday (September 1), the CID said in a message that CID's Financial Crime Unit has started investigating allegations of irregularities and corruption in the Money Laundering Act against Chowdhury Nafiz Sarafat and his related persons and institutions.

Earlier, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) started an investigation in mid-August on allegations of embezzlement of Tk 800 crore through bank capture and loss of money from the stock market. The Central Bank's Financial Intelligence Unit-BFIU has frozen the bank accounts of Nafiz and his wife and children. Besides, the capital market regulator Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) blocked the BO (Beneficiary Owners) account of Nafis on 22 August.

It is known that Nafiz, the former chairman of Padma Bank, joined new businesses one after another. Apart from the media, he came to discuss various businesses including electricity company, hotel business, private university. An investigation team of Dhaka Stock Exchange, DSE visited Multi Securities and Services Limited, a registered brokerage firm of DSE, to investigate allegations of various irregularities and share scams. But the brokerage firm did not allow the investigation team to carry out the inspection process. It is said in the description of the report that he was not even allowed to enter the institution.

Investors' share information, back office servers, bank accounts of investors and dealer accounts of the firm were also not seen. In such a context, with the imposition of various restrictions, the facility of giving 'margin loans' and renewing the securities license of the brokerage firm was stopped. It has also been informed that the brokerage firm will not receive any dividend as a DSE shareholder till further instructions. All BO accounts of Hasan Taher Imam, another owner of the brokerage firm, have also been suspended. DSE also suspended all BO accounts of Jalal Ekramul Kabir, CEO and director of the broker house, for non-cooperation.

Canadian University of Bangladesh Board of Trustee Chairman and former chairman of Padma Bank (formerly Farmers Bank) Chowdhury Nafiz Sarafat is also involved in the ownership of asset management company Rais Asset Management Plc. Nafiz Sarafat, chairman of the board of trustees of the Canadian University of Bangladesh, has expanded his business in various sectors including hotel business, electricity, mobile tower, media in the last decade. When Farmers Bank was about to close down due to irregularities and loan scams, the ownership and management changed in 2017. At that time, Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir, a former member of the presidium of Awami League, resigned from the post of chairman under pressure. The following year, Chowdhury Nafiz Sarafat took over as the chairman of the bank. Farmers Bank was renamed Padma Bank in January 2019 after a change in the board of directors.

In order to rescue Padma Bank, a capital of Tk 715 crore was provided through state-owned Sonali, Janata, Agrani, Rupali and Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB), which was 66 percent of the bank's total capital at that time. Padma Bank was not able to return the money to the depositors due to the collapse of its financial health. In that situation, they proposed to merge with a state-owned bank in 2020. Another proposal proposes to issue equivalent shares to state-owned banks and financial institutions against the capital provided.

In a letter to the Financial Institutions Department of the Ministry of Finance, Bangladesh Bank has said that Padma Bank's proposal to issue shares against government bank deposits is 'not compatible' with the Bank Companies Act. The Ministry of Finance returned the proposal in agreement with Bangladesh Bank. At that time, the board of Padma Bank was asked by the central bank to try to bring investment from abroad. They failed in that attempt.

In 2019, when Farmers Bank became Padma Bank, the amount of defaulted loans of the institution was Tk 3,700 crore. By the end of 2023, it has increased to 3,672 crores, which is about 64 percent of the total debt. In other words, during Nafiz Sarafat's tenure, defaulted loans increased by about Tk 602 crore. Nafiz Sarafat resigned from the post of chairman of the bank on January 31 this year amid discussions about the plight of Padma Bank. After that, the board of Padma Bank made an agreement to merge with Exim Bank last March through the mediation of Bangladesh Bank.

Shafiqur Rahman, Chairman of Citizen TV and Member of Parliament of Awami League in the 12th Parliament, complained last May that Nafiz Sarafat took him to the residence of former IGP (who was Director General of RAB at the time of the incident) Benazir Ahmed and forced him to share the ownership of Citizen TV. is written down.

Incidentally, in 2021, a cartoon drawn by cartoonist Ahmed Kabir Kishore caused a stir on social media. In the cartoon depicting Chowdhury Nafiz Sarafat, instead of the navel, the symbol of the bank is the chest handle. It was captioned, I Chow Nafiz Sarafat/Jani Bank Khawar Darapat! At that time, it was said in social media discussions that online activist Mushtaq Ahmed wrote the caption above the cartoon drawn by Kishore. In May that year, Mushtaq, Kishore and four others were arrested on charges of 'anti-government propaganda and rumour'. 53-year-old Mushtaq died in Kashimpur's high security jail after being repeatedly denied bail. And after being released on bail, the teenager accused him of torture.

Source: BDNews

Bangladesh /KH