Tk 19cr mismatch: 3 officials of Union Bank’s Gulshan branch withdrawn

Three officials of Union Bank’s Gulshan branch have been withdrawn as Bangladesh Bank found a Tk 19-crore mismatch in its vault.

A probe committee has also been formed to investigate the matter, Hasan Iqbal, deputy managing director of the bank, said while addressing a press conference at the bank’s head office in Dhaka this afternoon.

Iqbal said the money was given to a VIP customer after ending the bank’s transaction period.

“It is a violation of the bank’s rules but it is not new. Such type of transaction is done based on the relationship between the customer and the bank,” he added.

“We have withdrawn three officials of the branch and formed a committee to probe the matter. The account of Tk 19 crore has also been adjusted in presence of the inspection team of Bangladesh Bank,” he added.

Earlier on Wednesday, the central bank sent a letter to the authorities concerned of Union Bank seeking its clarification in this regard.

At the same time, the BB also asked the bank authorities to find out people responsible for such activities.

On Monday, Bangladesh Bank found a Tk 19-crore mismatch in Union Bank’s vault in Gulshan branch.

A BB inspection team found Tk 12 crore in the vault, though Tk 31 crore was supposed to be there.

Sirazul Islam, spokesman of the central bank, said they are looking into the matter as the authorities concerned of the branch have failed to give a satisfactory answer before the inspection team of the central bank.

As per rules, if there is discrepancy in the vault’s money, it must be informed to the law enforcement agencies but it was not done in this case till Wednesday.

The BB authorities will take actions in this regard as per law, Sirazul Islam said.

There were reports of irregularities, corruption, embezzlement and robbery in many banks but in recent times, there have been no reports of discrepancy in the vault’s money.

UNB adds: Bangladesh Bank has called for an explanation from Islamic Shariah-based Union Bank Limited on how an amount of Tk 19 crore went missing from the vault of its Gulshan branch.
"The central bank has asked the Union Bank authorities to give explanation about the incident within next 7 days", Sirazul Islam, spokesman of the Bangladesh Bank told reporters on Thursday.
An inspection team of Bangladesh Bank on Monday unearthed a mismatch between the preserved cash in the branch's vault and the actual amount mentioned in the cash register.
It was found by the team that the vault should have a preserved amount of Tk 31 crore while it had available cash of Tk 12 crore. 
Following the incident, the central bank moved to ask for an explanation from the bank management. 
Sirazul Islam said if the explanation is not satisfactory, the central bank will take action as per banking rules and regulation.
Meanwhile, the Union Bank authorities also formed a 5-member committee to investigate the incident of money disappearance from the vault and withdrew three of its officials responsible for maintaining the vault-account.
Deputy managing director the Union Bank Hasan Iqbal informed the media about the steps taken by the management.
He, however, said there was no disappearance of cash from the vault. Rather, this happened because of the cash withdrawal by a VIP client beyond the banking hours.
But he refused to disclose the name of the VIP client.
Iqbal also claimed that the next day, the transaction was formalised in presence of Bangladesh Bank inspection team and the cash in the vault was adjusted with the bank's cash register.