YET another loan scam, dealing a severe blow to the banking sector, has hit the economy. The Chattogram-based S Alam Group has taken out about Tk 300 billion in loans form Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd, the largest commercial bank in the private sector, that the group controls. The amount taken out in loans is way beyond what the group is entitled to, which is Tk 2.15 billion, keeping to the bank’s rules, as a Bangladesh Bank audit report says, noting that the loan transaction has been done employing various unethical means. Some officials of both the central bank and Islami Bank suspect that the group along with some associates may have so far appropriated about Tk 1,000 billion from about a horde of banks, but mostly from Islami Bank, that the group controls. A recent loan scam of about Tk 68.35 billion, which took place in Islami Bank in April–November, was reported early this week. The bank is feared to have extended the loans on political consideration. A series of loan scams have taken place after the Awami League government assumed office in 2009. And, in almost all the cases, it is the central bank which is to blame, either for overlooking the problems or for not taking stringent action in time.
The Crescent Group swindled Tk 35.72 billion, which came to light around 2015, and AnonTex embezzled Tk 55.08 billion in the 2019 financial year from…
