Kazi Zahidul Hasan :
Eleven commercial banks have come under intensive scanner of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) for their alleged involvement in external trade-based money laundering.
The banks are Bangladesh Commerce Bank, Social Islami Bank, Al Arafah Islami Bank, Dhaka Bank, BRAC Bank, Standard Bank, United Commercial Bank, City Bank, Premier Bank, BASIC BANK and Sonali Bank.
These banks have reportedly facilitated laundering Tk 1,600 crore under cover of imports and exports through banking channel. The incidents of money laundering took place in between 2009 and 2014, according to a BB investigation.
The BB investigation found that these banks remitted the amount overseas through Letter of Credits (LCs) opened to import industrial raw materials and capital machinery, and export documents to local industrial units and businessmen.
“But the industrial units and trading houses neither imported goods nor repatriated their export earnings to the country against these LCs paving the way of money laundering,” it added.
BB investigation found that officials of these banks in nexus with local businessmen laundered the money causing harm to the national economy.
According to the investigation report, Chittagong based industrial units-AB & D Corporation, Aramit Thai Aluminium, RS Metal, SL Steel, LSI, Yasir Enterprise and Seba Enterprise opened LCs at Agrabad Branch of Sonali Bank, Bangladesh Commerce Bank, Premier Bank and Mercantile Bank to import industrial raw materials and goods.
The total value of these LCs was Tk173crore.
“Banks have paid the amount against LCs. But the industrial units and trading houses did not import industrial raw material utilising these LCs while siphoning the money abroad,” it said.
Al-Amin Group received Tk 135crore credit against LC from Agrabad and Narayanganj local branch of Sonali Bank for importing capital machinery. The Agrabad Branch of the bank also provided Tk 175 crore loans to Imam Trading for importing essential commodities and goods.
Receipts of the LCs amount, both parties finally refrained from phyically importing capital machinery and goods laundering the money through banking channel.
The BB investigation also found the case of Tk 163 money laundering by City Bank in which the bank sent the amount to Malaysia.
It sent the amount taking approval from the central bank showing payment on business purpose. But it did not spend the money there, except removing out, the country.
BB also detected Tk 328 crore money laundering case in which Brac Bank, Standard Bank, United Commercial Bank, City Bank, Premier Bank and National Bank were involved.
These banks paid the said amount to SS Enterprise, GS Enterprise, KGN Enterprise and NN Trading against LCs for importing commodities. But none of them imported the goods that that they were supposed to import from taking bank credit.
In another case, Basic Bank laundered Tk 175 crore by opening LCs against 16 fake companies from its two branches.
The Commerce Bank, Bangshal branch, opened LCs against various traders worth Tk 205 crore for importing consumer goods. But no import was made against these LCs despite the banks paid the amount to their principals.
Social Islami Bank, Al-Arafah Islami Bank and Dhaka Bank have jointly provided a Tk 216 crore LC facility to a Dubai-based trading house (Mohsen Al Baiki) for consumer goods import.
Later, these banks cleared the LC amount to the corresponding foreign banks without any import by the said trading house.
The BB investigation also found that some export-oriented garment units did not repatriate their export earnings into the country through the concerned banks with a view to laundering the money abroad.
“We demanded banks’ explanation in this regard as BB suspect these cases are money laundering,” a senior BB official told the New Nation on Wednesday.
He said, the banks have provided credits to the industrial units and trading houses to import raw materials but they did not import the said goods that were declared in LC, which means all the amount was laundered.
“The banks must take the responsibility to bring bank the money. Otherwise they will face BB’s music,” he warned.
