Founding chairman MK Alamgir and his successor Nafeez Sarafat
Staff Correspondent: The Securities and Exchange Commission will look into allegations of fund misuse against Chowdhury Nafeez Sarafat, chairman of Padma Bank.
“We’ve received the complaint filed by former home minister Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir on the Padma Bank. We are working on the matter. We will seek the Padma Bank’s statement,” SEC Chairman Shibli Rubayat-Ul-Islam said at a dialogue organised by the Economic Reporters Forum in Dhaka on Saturday.
Alamgir, the founding chairman of the bank, has alleged that his successor Sarafat invested Tk 1 billion of the bank in a fund in a “breach of rules”.
“We will talk to the asset management company as well. We will check everything to determine which information is correct. Everything will happen according to the law of the land. There is no reason for deviation on our side,” said SEC chief Islam, responding to a query from a reporter.
Founding chairman MK Alamgir and his successor Nafeez Sarafat Mohammad Rezaul Karim, spokesman for BSEC, had earlier confirmed the receipt of Alamgir’s complaint, saying: “We will call the accused person to have his statement. Steps will be taken after scrutiny.”
Dogged by loan scam and irregularities, the ownership and management of The Farmers Bank changed in 2018 before it was rechristened Padma Bank the following year apparently to restore its image.
The government approved the Farmers Bank, owned by Alamgir, an Awami League Presidium member, in 2013. He resigned as chairman following pressure over loan scams and irregularities in 2017.
Sarafat took over as chairman of the bank in early 2018 before the bank was renamed at the beginning of 2019.
