S Alam Group has taken more than half of Islami Bank's money: Chairman

The newly appointed chairman of Islami Bank, Obaid Ullah Al Masood, said that more than half of the money that the bank distributed as loans was taken by S Alam Group, the business group controlling Islami Bank for seven years. He said, the full account of these loans is being taken out now. Assets mortgaged against S Alam's loans are also being revalued. Because, the loan has been taken out by showing the high price of these assets.

Apart from this, no mortgage was given against Islami Bank's loan, the chairman of the bank said that the assistance of the Ministry of Law is being taken to find such assets of S Alam Group. He said, after finding these resources, they will be tried to take control of the bank. Obaid Ullah Al Masood commented that now he can speak 'openly' because of the collapse of the Awami League government.

After the deregulation of Islami Bank S Alam, the first meeting of the new board of directors of the bank with Bangladesh Bank was held today on Thursday. At the end of the meeting, Chairman Obaid Ullah Al Masud spoke to the journalists about the situation of the bank. Bangladesh Bank appointed him as independent director and chairman of Islami Bank on August 22. He is the former Managing Director (MD) of Sonali and Rupali Bank. He was the MD of Sonali Bank from 2016 to 2019 and Rupali Bank from 2019 to 2022.

Obaid Ullah Al Masud said, "I got the responsibility of Sonali Bank after the Hallmark scam. Deposits in Sonali Bank increased even after the Hallmark incident came into discussion. The problem of Islamic banks is very big. For this we have formulated the roadmap with responsibility. I am trying to supervise by being present at the bank every day. This year will be the year of regaining customer confidence. This work will continue in the next year as well. 2026-27 will be the turning year. 2028-30 is the year to move forward.'

The chairman of Islami Bank said that the liquidity crisis started in the bank from 2022. Now bank customers, expatriate income remittance customers, shareholders and foreign entrepreneurial organizations—no one has confidence in the bank. For this, three audit institutions have been appointed to verify the actual condition of the bank. They will audit the bank's lending, investment and human resources. There was no good audit before, so this is the consequence of the bank today.

When asked what action is being taken against the bank officials involved in the irregularities, Obaid Ullah Al Masud said that the money of the bank has been diverted to different sectors. No action is being taken against the officers below. But the evil officials are being identified. Steps will be taken gradually. He also said that Bangladesh Bank will assist in overcoming the situation.

In 2017, Chittagong-based business group S Alam Group took control of Islami Bank. The chairman of the bank was Ahsanul Alam, son of S Alam Group chairman Saiful Alam. The loan amount of the bank is 1 lakh 75 thousand crores. According to the calculations given by the new chairman, the S Alam Group has taken out about Tk 88 thousand crores from the bank alone.

Officials of Islami Bank said that 82 percent of the bank's shares are in the hands of S Alam Group stakeholders. However, the capital market regulator Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) has banned six banks under the control of S Alam Group, including Islami Bank, from transferring their shares.