Salman F Rahman ousted from IFIC Bank, new board formed

This time, the Bangladesh Bank has dissolved the board of directors of IFIC Bank and formed a new board, setting it free from the reigns of Salman F Rahman, the industry and investment advisor to former prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

The central bank formed a new six-member board on Wednesday, appointing Md Mehmood Husain, former managing director of National Bank, as chairman of the bank.

According to Md Mezbaul Haque, executive director and spokesperson for the Bangladesh Bank, the central bank has dissolved the previous board of IFIC Bank and appointed four new independent and two government representative directors.

The board, which was led by Beximco Group Vice-Chairman Salman, has been dissolved amid the removal of several influential beneficiaries of the deposed Awami League government from several banks after the interim government took office in August.

The Beximco boss was the chairman of the private bank for nine long years.

As a result, Salman and his son Ahmed Shayan F Rahman have lost their grip on the bank's board.

Shayan lost his position as the vice chairman of the bank in the second week after the government fell on Aug 5.

On Aug 13, Bangladesh Bank wrote to the IFIC bank, objecting to Shayan’s proposal to become the director of the bank due to allegations of loan default.

Salman became the chairman of the bank back in 2015.

He was previously elected chairman in 2010. Shayan was elected vice chairman in February 2019.

NEW BOARD

In its letter to the managing director of IFIC Bank, the central bank said that the new board has been formed in public interest, to protect the interests of depositors and banks, ensuring good governance in the banking sector.

The letter sent to the managing director also stated that Md Mehmood Husain, former managing director of National Bank, former executive director of Bangladesh Bank Md Ebtadul Islam, Sajjad Zohir, a professor of BRAC University’s economics department, and Chartered Accountant Kazi Md Mahboob Kasem have been appointed as independent directors to the bank.

In addition, Finance Division Additional Secretary Md Golam Mostofa and Joint Secretary Md Monzurul Haque have also been appointed as representative directors of IFIC Bank since the government holds 32.75 percent shares in the bank.

Mehmood has been made the chairman of the nine-member board.

After Hasina tendered her resignation on Aug 5, Salman was on the run along with former law minister Anisul Huq. However, both of them were arrested a few days later in Dhaka’s Sadarghat area on Aug 13.

Meanwhile, several cases including murder charges have been filed against Salman. The former member of parliament who was elected from the Dhaka 1 parliamentary seat has been remanded multiple times for questioning in these cases.

He has been accused of defrauding shareholders of billions through stock market fraud, placement share manipulation and scams.

It has also been alleged that Salman used his influence to siphon billions abroad by taking out loans worth Tk 360 billion from public and private banks.The Criminal Investigation Department of police has launched an investigation into allegations of money laundering and smuggling funds out of Bangladesh through various public and private banks.

The Central Intelligence Cell, or CIC, of the National Board of Revenue is also investigating the owners of the prominent business conglomerates Beximco, Bashundhara, Summit, Orion, and Nassa groups.

Letters have been sent to banks and financial institutions requesting transaction details of Salman F Rahman, vice-chairman of Beximco Group.

Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit, or BFIU, has frozen the bank accounts of Salman F Rahman, his son Ahmed Shayan F Rahman, and daughter-in-law Shazreh Rahman.

According to the letter from the BFIU, all transactions from the accounts held in the names of the mentioned individuals and their associated businesses will be suspended for the next 30 days under the Money Laundering Prevention Act, 2012.