Md Solaiman

The Anti-Corruption Commission yesterday arrested a director of Shahjalal Islami Bank Ltd in the capital on the charge of misappropriating Tk 140 crore.
An ACC team led by its Assistant Director Rafiqul Islam picked up the bank official, Mohammed Solaiman, from Akram Tower at Bijoynagar around 11:30am, said a top official of the anti-graft body.
The arrest was made in connection with a case the bank filed with Chittagong Kotwali Police Station against him and three others on April 13. Solaiman was accused of embezzling Tk 140 crore from the bank.
It was the first time any bank in the country filed a lawsuit against one of its directors.
The case was later transferred to the ACC for investigation. The bank's board of directors yesterday blamed Solaiman, also former chairman of the bank, for misappropriating another Tk 25 crore in the name of loans.
“We have detected more cases of embezzlement of another Tk 25 crore by Solaiman, and the bank has decided to file another criminal case against him,” AK Azad, chairman of the bank, told a briefing at the bank's headquarters in Gulshan after an emergency board meeting.
“We have also found that he was involved in the Bismillah Towels loan scam,” said Azad, also former president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
Farman R Chowdhury, managing director of the bank, said Solaiman embezzled the money in collusion with his nephew ANM Jahangir, the then manager of the bank's Jubilee Road branch in Chittagong.
Jahangir is one of the four accused.
Farman alleged Solaiman had influenced the bank to lend Tk 140 crore to SK Steel in Chittagong in 2011. Solaiman also put pressure on the bank's management to give a loan of Tk 25 crore to Joynob Steel that year.  
In both cases, Solaiman gave false assurances about the loans, promoting the clients as good borrowers, said Farman.
Speaking at the briefing, Azad said the bank ran enquiries and found that Paradise Corporation, owned by Solaiman, took more than Tk 18 crore in bribe from SK Steel in 61 cheques, and Tk 7.63 crore from Joynob Steel in 10 cheques.
Azad said his bank has written to Bangladesh Bank for taking action against Solaiman.
Farman said the bank's non-performing loans rose to Tk 750 crore or 8.5 percent of its total loans in recent months due to the embezzlement.
The other two accused are Enamul Haque, chairman of Paradise Corporation and Aminul Haque, a director of Paradise Corporation.
The loan recovery time expired in November 2013, according to the case statement.