Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank (RAKUB) is facing losses of Tk 2.23 crore allegedly due to a host of corrupt officials granting loans against fake documents.

The financial irregularities surfaced during an audit inspection by the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (OCAG) in 2010 at the bank's zonal office in Gaibandha and its branches.

Between 1997 and 2010, a number of officials at the branches sanctioned loans which violated Bangladesh Bank's instructions.

And, thanks to the bank's lax internal control and auditing, the discrepancies remained undetected.

According to the watchdog, the RAKUB's main office in Rajshahi lent Tk 1.10 crore in 2005 to one Rejaul Karim Sarker for setting up poultry and dairy farms and fisheries -- without actually verifying the venture's viability.

Furthermore, the officials of the bank were supposed to follow-through on the project's progress, ensuring that the first instalment of the loan was properly used. But the officials never did.

Now, the loan's recovery is in question -- as the project does not exist.

The branch has filed a case with Arthorin Adalat in 2009 in a bid to retrieve the money, but the OCAG deems it to be insufficient.

The report instead recommended that money be realised from the bank officials.

"As the court is dealing with the issue it is no more in our hands. We hope it will be settled soon," Md Mofazzal Husain, managing director of RAKUB, told The Daily Star.

He also said if the court gives a verdict in favour of the bank then they would be able to recoup the loan by selling the properties of the borrower.

A branch under the bank's Gaibandha zonal office lent Tk 36.85 lakh in 2006 -- against similar circumstances.

The bank did not check all the necessary papers, including the Credit Information Bureau report.

The date for repayment has expired in 2007 -- and the sum remains to be realised.

Furthermore, some other branches of the zonal office were involved in misappropriation, of Tk 19.53 lakh in total.

Four officials took the money through fake accounts, which did not have any files under the names.

The head office, however, has caught the officials, said the audit report.

Four officials of another branch under the zone, in connivance with supervisors, misappropriated Tk 56.92 lakh in the name of distributing loans under poverty eradication schemes.

According to the OCAG document, the sum was distributed among farmers in river erosion affected areas at a 6 percent interest rate.

The loans were never realised, with the borrowers remaining untraceable.

“It appeared that the four pocketed the sum and did not distribute it to the real borrowers,” said the OCAG document.

The RAKUB head office took the decision to retrieve the money from the four in 2008 -- but they were not suspended for their misdeeds.

“As the head office has kept their jobs intact, the possibility of repeats of such incidents remains, which will ultimately harm the financial institution from functioning like a bank,” said the document.

When asked if the bank will take any punitive measures against the people involved, he said: "We will have to look into the cases. It will take time, as the irregularities took place years ago."

"But, we will take all steps to recover the money,” added the RAKUB chief.

Husain further said that such incidents were rampant in the past.

"Now, the number is coming down. We have enhanced our monitoring and are regularly sitting with the field-level officers. Our target is to bring down such irregularities to as minimum a level as possible."

The findings were revealed in a report on December 23 of last year, which the audit watchdog prepared after digging out irregularities amounting to Tk 4,811 crore in spending of 22 ministries.

BRAC Bank has introduced automated Queue Management System at branch network for smooth and faster delivery of services to the customers.

 
It is an automated system with state-of-the-art touch screen kiosk and visual displays that will inform and guide customers about all services available in the branch. The new system will save valuable time of the customers as it will reduce waiting time in queue.

 
The system ensures separate queue for different banking services-Bearer and A/C Holders, remittance, IPO and tuition fees deposit and prioritizes services for premium, supreme and corporate customers.

It will facilitate floor manager to distribute service requests from one desk to another as per situation.

 
The system is launched as part of the bank's commitment to provide 'Delightful Customer Experience' to its customers. The system will be expanded to other branches of the bank. 

The central bank has purchased about Tk 5,000 crore worth of US dollars from banks in the past one and a half months in a bid to contain inflation.

Between December 1 last year and January 16 this year, Bangladesh Bank has bought about $648 million from kanks 'ban with the central bank's 30-day bills and Islamic bonds -- instead of paying upfront in cash.

A high official of the central bank said they have taken up the new strategy to curb inflationary pressures.

Although overall inflation has come down to single digit, non-food inflation still remains in the double digits, according to the official.

Non-food inflation in December 2012 stood at 10.24 percent.

Another reason behind the BB purchase of large amounts of dollars -- almost every month -- is to maintain the exchange rate in the face of falling imports.

The central bank purchased $2.36 billion from the foreign exchange market between July 1, 2012 and January 16, 2012, according to central bank statistics.

In recent times, the taka has been appreciating continuously against the dollar.

On January 15, the taka's weighted average rate against the dollar stood at Tk 79.59, down from the Tk 83.68 recorded for the same date a year ago.

The rate stood at Tk 81.82 on June 30 of last year.

“The central bank is buying dollars in a way that it does not fuel appreciation of the taka against the dollar,” said the official.

The BB is not supplying cash against the purchases.

BB's main target is to ensure competitiveness of the exports and not to put off expatriates from sending in remittances, according to the official.

In July-November, imports fell 4.31 percent year-on-year to $13.47 billion, while exports increased 3.96 percent, according to BB data.

The foreign exchange reserves marked a rise in recent times: it crossed $13 billion in the first week of January, but after making payments to the Asian Clearing House, it came down to $12.63 billion on January 15.

The BB officials said Islamic Development Bank's credit line for import of petroleum is about $2.5 billion this fiscal year, much higher than last year's $1 billion.

As a result, payments against petroleum import by local banks are less this year, another reason behind the low demand for foreign currency.

The BB official, however, said demand for foreign currency is likely to increase from next month, when the foreign banks and companies start to repatriate their profits.

Alhaj Anwer Hossain Khan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of SJIBL presides over 165th board meeting of the bank at the bank’s head office in Dhaka Thursday.

The 165th meeting of the Board of Directors of Shahjalal Islami Bank Limited (SJIBL) was held at its head office Thursday.

The meeting was presided over by Chairman of the Board of Directors Alhaj Anwer Hossain Khan.

The board approved a number of investment proposals and discussed various issues relating to policy matters of the Bank.

Among others, Vice Chairman of the Board Alhaj Khandoker Sakib Ahmed, Directors Alhaj Sajjatuz Jumma, Alhaj Akkas Uddin Mollah, Alhaj Engr. Md.

Towhidur Rahman, Alhaj Mohammed Solaiman, Alhaj Mohammad Hasan, Alhaj Tofazzal Hossain, Alhaj Abdul Halim, Alhaj Md.

Sanaullah Shahid and Managing Director Mr. Md. Abdur Rahman Sarker were present in the meeting.

Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL) distributed warm clothes among the cold-hit people in Bandarban area recently.

Javed Reja, Mayor of Bandarban Municipality, attended the function as chief guest, said a press release.

AKM Jahangir Hossain, president of Bandarban Press Club and Mahbubul Alam, businessman, attended the function as special guests while Md Nurul Hossain Kowser, Head of IBBL’s Bandarban branch, presided over the programme.

Md Iqbal Hossain, senior officer of the branch, moderated the function.