Sonali to sue Hall-Mark by Feb 28
Sonali Bank is set to lodge a formal case against Hall-Mark Group by February 28 over the swindling of Tk 2,554 crore more than two years ago.
The move comes after the bank's board gave its management the deadline in a meeting last week after going through all the issues that have been holding up the process.
The scam came to light in April 2012.
About the delay in filing the case, Sonali Bank Managing Director Pradip Kumar Dutta blamed it on flaws in Hall-Mark's credit documents.
Over the past one year, Sonali took opinions from six lawyers about proceeding with legal action against the disgraced company to recover the funds.
Finally the board decided to lodge two cases to retrieve the money -- one with Artha Rin Adalat and another with a civil court.Hall-Mark took out loans of Tk 2,964 crore, of which it has already adjusted Tk 410 crore.
As a result, the company still owes the state-run bank Tk 2,554 crore, for which a case with Artha Rin Adalat would be filed.
Sonali Bank found that of the Tk 2,554 crore, it has necessary documents against loans worth only Tk 350 crore. The remaining sum was siphoned off using false documents.
For instance, Tk 1,000 crore was withdrawn against a “mere slip” and a case would be filed with a civil court for retrieving the money. The bank officials will also be implicated in the case as they were complicit with the forgery.
Meanwhile, the Anti-Corruption Commission has lodged 11 cases against several officials of Hall-Mark and Sonali Bank.
Janata Bank opens branch in Gopalganj
Janata Bank Limited opened its 898th branch at Muksudpur in Gopalgonj recently.
Muhammad Faruk Khan, MP of Gopalgonj-1 and former civil aviation and tourism minister, inaugurated the branch as chief guest, said a press release.
Iftikhar-Uz-Zaman, Deputy Managing Director of the bank attended the function as special guest while Md Alamgir Miah, General Manager of Divisional Office of Dhaka north, presided over the inaugural event.
BB’s timely policies keep economy on track: Atiur
The central bank Governor on Sunday said the country’s economy remained on track despite many external and domestic shocks as the regulator could take timely policies.
“In the face of the ongoing global meltdown and recent internal political instability, advancing the economy was a major challenge,” said Dr Atiur Rahman.
“To address that challenge, Bangladesh Bank has taken timely monetary policy, loan policy and investment and business-friendly policies and steps. So, most economic indicators remained positive despite an adverse situation,” the Governor remarked.
Dr Atiur was addressing as chief guest a programme of BB’s fresh officials at the Bangladesh Bank Training Academy at Mirpur.
He told the fresh officials that the size of the country’s economy and depth of the financial sector has increased remarkably in last five years. The challenge for the central bank also increased simultaneously, he added.
BB’s financial inclusion campaign has helped widen the economic depth quickly, he said, adding that agriculture, SME and banking sectors’ contribution also helped maintain the economic stability.
In last five years, the number of banks rose to 56 from 48 and the number of bank branches increased from 6,886 to 8,560, the Governor informed.
Meanwhile, opening of bank accounts witnessed a 63 percent hike to reach 6.12 crore and ten-taka accounts for the poor also soared to 1.33 crore during the period, he also mentioned.
Key macro economic indicators, including GDP growth, inward remittances, reserve, exports and imports, were stable in last five years, which showed “economic resilience” of the country, he said.
He noted that because of close observation and market-based monitoring by the central bank, the inter-bank money market, the foreign currency market and exchange rates remained stable.
And at the same time, inflation was in control even though it heated up in last two months because of supply chain disruption due to political violence.
The governor called upon new officials to put their full efforts to turn the institute a centre of excellence and a world-class central bank.
BB Deputy Governor SK Sur Chowdhury was also present at the event as the special guest.
BRAC Bank employees run marathon for humanity
The employees of BRAC Bank organised a marathon titled “BRAC Bank DAUR 2014 – Kolyaner Pothochola” to raise fund for humanity. Benazir Ahmed, commissioner, Dhaka Metropolitan Police, was present as the chief guest at the annual marathon for humanity at Hatirjheel on Friday. Syed Mahbubur Rahman, managing director and chief
executive officer, BRAC Bank Limited, Management Committee Members of BRAC Bank and its subsidiaries were also present. The marathon started at 7:00 am in the morning. A total of 2,000 employees from BRAC Bank participated in the marathon that started from Police Plaza Point of Hatirjheel Point and ended at the same point covering 5.2km. On the occasion, the employees raised a fund of more than Tk 1.2 million, and the company doubled it to Tk 2.45 million from its CSR fund. BRAC Bank first started the marathon for humanity in 2011.
BRAC Bank donated Tk 1 million to Bangladesh Protibondhi Foundation that works for the welfare of disabled and disadvantaged children with educational, healthcare and vocational support. After the marathon, Syed Mahbubur Rahman, Managing Director & CEO, BRAC Bank Limited, handed over the cheque to Dr Shamim Ferdous, executive director, Bangladesh Protibondhi Foundation.
News:/The Independent /05-Feb-2014
Exim Bank sets largest corporate human logo
EXIM Bank has set a new record in Asia by forming the largest human corporate logo in the country.
In a magnificent display of unfaltering love for the bank, thousands of participants including executives and officials raised red and green placards above their heads to form the Asia’s largest human corporate logo at the Army Stadium in Dhaka on Saturday.
Chairman of the bank Md. Nazrul Islam Mazumder was the chief guest where Directors of the bank were present as special guest.