Dhaka, Sep 6 (bdnews24.com)—The Annual General Meeting of Sonali Bank, which is facing severe criticism for irregularities in disbursement of loan to little-known Hallmark Group, on Thursday passed a proposal to reappoint its incumbent Chairman and three members of the Board of Directors.
The three directors of the largest state-owned commercial bank are Subhash Singha Roy, Shahidulla Mia and Kashem Humayun.
The decision to further extend the tenure of the three directors was passed a day after the government extended the tenure of its incumbent Chairman Quazi Baharul Islam for the next two years amid widespread criticism over the recent loan forgery that took place in the bank.
The Hallmark Group, along with other organisations, had secured Tk 40 billion worth of loans through forged documents from the Ruposhi Banngla Hotel Branch of the bank.
Director Kashem Humayun told bdnews24.com that as per the Bank Company Act, at every annual general meeting of a public bank, a third of the directors are liable to retirement by rotation or if their number is not three or more than three, then the number nearest to one-third will retire from office.
"The Chairman, I and the two other members were expected to go into retirement in line with the provision. But the AGM reappointed all the four. We'll hold our posts until our speculated time. The government will finally decide whether it will reappoint us after the expiry of our present tenure," he added.
The Banking and Financial Institution Division of the Ministry of Finance in a notification on Wednesday asked Chairman Quazi Baharul to stay on in the top post until further notice.
An investigation by the Bangladesh Bank in May found that some corrupt officials of Sonali Bank's Ruposhi Bangla Hotel branch were involved in misappropriating Tk 36 billion through irregularities between 2011 and May 2012. The investigation also revealed that Hallmark Group alone took Tk 27 billion out of the total loan.
A six-strong special investigation team of the Anti-corruption Commission (ACC) headed by Deputy Director Mir Joynal Abedin Shibli is looking into the loan scam.
The authorities have so far temporarily suspended two Deputy Managing Directors (DMD) and 20 other officials over the loan forgery.
Following the loan scam, the central bank on Aug 27 requested the Finance Ministry to reconstitute the Board of Directors of Sonali Bank Ltd.
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