Basudeb Roy, Nilphamari Correspondent.
'A family became the director of seven banks due to the failure of the state machinery', said Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr. Ahsan H. Mansur, 'You know that a family had seven banks and financial institutions in their hands, which is illegal. According to the law, a family could not share more than ten percent in a bank. So how did they completely take control of the banks and a family of the S Alam Group owns eighty percent of the shares in Islami Bank. How did they get it? This is a complete failure of the state machinery, the failure of Bangladesh Bank. They became political directors.'
He made these remarks as the chief guest at a discussion on the current state and future outline of Bangladesh's economy organized at the Nilphamari Government College hall on Sunday (February 24) at 11 am. He also said, "No country in the world has ever destroyed the financial sector by using the state. I know, I have worked in various countries of the world with law and management. Yes, there is weak bank management, inflation. But the incident of state-sponsored bank looting has only happened in Bangladesh. Not just one bank, but seven banks. Banks have been used through political processes, money has been laundered, etc., etc."
Stating that they were given protection from the highest level of the state, the governor said, "We didn't know how a family took over seven banks and bankrupted them all. Of course we knew. But nothing could be done. We also know why it wasn't done. Because if it was given protection from the highest level of the state, protection from the DGFI, then how could the common people resist? It was not possible to resist."
Regarding the turnaround of banks, Governor Dr. Ahsan H. Mansur said, 'There are some banks that are turning around well. Islami Bank is one of them. But they have turned around and why? Because the depositors are committed to the bank. They want their bank to remain. They know that the bank was good. The bank can be good and the bank will be good. This trust, this trust, is the most important thing for our banking sector. If we can give trust to the banking sector, then it is easy to turn around.'
He further said, 'Will all the banks be able to turn around? Maybe they won't. But we will make it stand. No matter how the market is created. We will return the money of every depositor. We are giving this guarantee. They will not lose any of their deposit money, maybe they will not get access temporarily. But when our process is over, they will be given an alternative asset. Insha Allah, you will not be harmed. So we will restructure the banks in such a way, bring them under management in such a way that they can stand as strong banks. It doesn't take time for a bank to turn around. It takes four to five years. We hope that the next government will take it forward. If it can take it forward, it will not be constructive. So the responsibility lies with the next government.'
Regarding the return of the laundered money, the governor said, "We are trying to recover the lakhs and crores of taka that have been laundered. We have formed many joint investigation teams here. And each of them is taking information personally. They are taking information from other places. Some of their assets, properties that are in Bangladesh are being attached. There are some foreign organizations for 'stolen asset tracing'. There are government organizations in England, the European Union, the United States, and the World Bank. We are contacting them. We are providing technical assistance from them. We are also taking legal assistance. We are trying to do the investigations properly. Because when we take these to the international court, it is only on the basis of an international standard investigation for the standards of the Bangladeshi court that we will be able to seize their assets and later bring them back."
He further said, "International experience is that it takes four to five years to bring back laundered money. We have seen in Malaysia that it took four to five years. We have seen that in Nigeria, the assets that the former president took away were brought back, amounting to about five billion dollars. It is possible to do it. But it will take time and it is not possible for this government to see the results. It is possible to start, we start. But the next government will have to finish it."
The discussion meeting was chaired by the college principal, Professor Mahbubur Rahman Bhuiyan, with Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Nairuzzaman as the special guest. College teachers, bank officials and students participated in the meeting and Governor Dr. Ahsan H. Mansur answered their various questions.
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