Dhaka, Mar 15 (BDNEWS) – Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd. (IBBL) Wednesday defended itself against central bank accusation of violating Anti-Money Laundering Act, saying nobody knows who is militant and who is not.
But the bank suspended four officials of its branches in Sylhet, Savar and Gazipur and charged 12 others for their negligence in performing duties, a senior IBBL official said, refusing to disclose their names and other details of the persons.
"Nobody knows who is militant and who is not. The word 'militant' is not inscribed on anyone's body," Abdur Raquib, Executive President of IBBL, told BDNEWS a day after the Bangladesh Bank (BB) issued a show cause notice to the bank for maintaining accounts of some Islamic militants and suspicious transaction in some of its branches.
He said they could not suspect any of the accounts until police seized the Islami bank cheque book from the Sylhet hideout of Jama'atul Mujahedin Bangladesh (JMB) kingpin Shaekh Abdur Rahman.
BB sources said a person identifying himself as Javed Khan sent eight telephonic transfers (TTs) worth Tk 4.15 lakh from two branches of the Islami Bank in Gazipur and Savar to an account held by Saidur Rahman at Sylhet Laldigirpar branch.
"We conducted an internal investigation as soon as we came to know about this. We have already suspended four officials and charged 12 officials for their negligence in duties," Raquib said.
He said there is no mechanism of identifying militants. The present Anti-Money Laundering Act also does not provide any mechanism to identify suspicious transactions, he added.
BB Tuesday asked the bank to explain in 10 days as to why the bank officials did not verify the account holder's signature against the signature of a person who transferred money through drafts to another account.
"We don't think it is a show cause. The BB as per its regular monitoring sought an explanation," Raquib said.
He said the IBBL officials remain busy providing services to its 2.7 million clients from 169 branches. "It is tough to monitor each and every account," he said.
Asked about BB's 'know your customer" guideline, Raquib said it's a lapse of the concerned branch manager. But it is not unusual it could happen if one has to maintain large number of accounts, he said.
He said the bank sends monthly statements to the BB including the one relating to suspicious transactions. But he refused to disclose how many reports relating to suspicious transactions were submitted by IBBL to the BB.
Asked about the relation of the bank with Mir Kashem Ali, one of the founders of Rabeta Al-Alam Al-Islami, Bangladesh, which is suspected for militant financing, he said: "He was once a director of the bank but now he has no relation with IBBL."
He also said: "The media has targeted us."
Raquib also said the bank has also no relation with the Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh.
BDNEWS/2014 hrs.
