IBBL urges immigration police to thwart convicted defaulter Monir Uddin’s departure

Financially troubled Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited has requested the Special Police Super of immigration department to obstruct their convicted loan defaulter and Canadian citizen Md Monir Uddin from leaving the country.

The Head of Mohakhali branch of the bank and vice president, Md Abu Kalam Al Azad, sent a letter to the Special Police Super of the immigration department asking him to enforce a travel ban on Monir Uddin, also a Bangladeshi citizen.

In November 2019, a Dhaka Judges Court convicted proprietor of M/S Russel Enterprise, Md Monir Uddin for not repaying loan instalments against an outstanding of Tk 25.77 crore. In the judgement, the seven additional judges gave the verdict of one-year imprisonment to the man with a fine of Tk 2.82 crore.

The Proprietor of M/S Russel Enterprise had received Tk 25 crore in credit from Mohakhali branch of Islami Bank Bangladesh six years ago. A number of four Complaint Register cases were filed against Monir Uddin.     

He had been a fugitive for a long time. But, some said he is now hiding in Bangladesh.

The letter also gave details of his Bangladeshi and Canadian passport numbers and Bangladeshi National ID number etc.

“We have applied to the Special Branch (SB) of Police against Md Monir Uddin so that he cannot leave Bangladesh. The Special Branch of Police is taking necessary initiatives in this regard,” Vice president of IBBL, Md Abu Kalam Al Azad, told Business Insider Bangladesh.

He also said in the meantime, the bank has also contacted the concerned police station. He said no one knows where he is at this moment. However, it is known that this person is currently staying in Bangladesh. 

After the change of ownership, the Islami Bank Bangladesh embraced a major financial crisis due to mismanagement and internal conflicts. The chairman appointed by the S Alam Group resigned and the bank curtailed its lending due to squeezed loanable funds.

In 2022, the bank fell into another catastrophe.  Some media outlets reported in October that the bank disbursed a Tk-900-crore loan to a man only a month after he had set up his trading company and within 10 days into his loan application.

There are other such instances of incredibly fast loan approval and disbursement. No collateral or credit report was required in any of the events. Upon investigation, discrepancies were found in the information provided by debtors, such as fake addresses, contact numbers, etc.

The IBBL disbursed Tk 5,000-6,000 crore on average every year over the last six years, but between December 2021 and September 2022, it had disbursed more than Tk 25,000 crore of loans, according to a media report. The latest audit by the Bangladesh Bank shows that the S Alam Group, which controls Islami Bank, alone grabbed Tk 30,000 crore in credits from the bank. 

The Bangladesh Bank assigned an observer to the bank this week to monitor lending activities. The central bank was allegedly silent despite knowing about such sky-high irregularities.