What's on in IBBL? Top official explains

Several paper-only companies have allegedly withdrawn thousands of crore taka from Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL) through fake addresses and documents. S Alam Group alone pocketed Tk30,000 crore, say media reports. The latest banking sector scam came to light after some media outlets published reports on the matter. 

IBBL Managing Director and CEO Mohammed Monirul Moula has sat with thereport.live in an exclusive interview, to give his account of what had happened. 

thereport.live: Why did you grant such a huge loan to Nabil Group?

Monirul Moula: The oranisation has been our client since 2002. They invested in their projects in many ways over the period. Over the past 20 years, they have never been a defaulter. The company recently started some trading business, which is why we expanded our funding there and it is quite under our control.   

thereport.live: A guard of the building that houses Nabil Group was asked about the company, according to a media report.

Monirul Moula: It is not possible for a guard to speak about it. We’ve published a report in this regard, in which we said that the company is located in that facility and it has a trade license.  

thereport.live: How can one get business loan despite using an residential address? Another news report claimed that the loan was sanctioned without the CIB report.

Monirul Moula: These news reports were published out of an evil design. I tell you, there is no way that such loans are granted except the CIB report. S Alam is a renowned company and it is in good terms with us. There has never any overdue. They adjust dues every year. 

In that case, I’d say we made investments in the company by conforming with all rules of the bank. But the news reports are exaggerated, confusing masses. We’ve prepared an explanation on the issue.  

thereport.live: Do you think that the bank will suffer due to the disbursement of huge loans to some big companies? Has the central bank been informed of the matter?  

Monirul Moula: We’ve gained the confidence of crores of people. Our loans now amount to 138,000 crore now. We’ve clients across the country and are committed to them. 

The S Alam loan is reasonable. It is not fair to say that we’re in trouble by granting them loan.  This is not even the case to be precise. 

One of our former chairmen is an apparel businessman. You know that RMG business is struggling now. Considering the situation, he left some shares of the bank. He followed the rules concerned. 

Some of the groups named in the reports are not even linked to S Alam group. Such things are not worth being discussed in courts. We have Bangladesh Bank as the regulatory body. And there is a banking division of the Finance Ministry. If they approach us, we’ll definitely tell them what had happened. 

In fact, we’ve already informed the central bank of the updates. We did it so our clients don’t lose confidence on us. Our clients trust us as the safest bank of the country. We’ve been recognized as the “Top Most Sustainable Bank” by the central bank. 

According to a news report published on Wednesday, Chattogram-based S Alam Group has lifted a stupendous sum of money in loans — more than Tk 30,000 crore — from Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited which the business group controls. The amount was way beyond the group’s entitlement.

The company took over IBBL during the previous tenure of the Awami League government in 2017.