News Desk :
An inquiry committee, formed to probe into corruption and irregularities in financial institutions, grilled three former high officials of Bangladesh Bank at its headquarters on Tuesday.
The committee summoned former Bangladesh Bank’s deputy governor S.K. Shur Chowdhury and SM Munir-uz-Zaman, and former executive director Mahfuzur Rahman on Monday.
Deputy Governor AKM Sajedur Rahman, who is also the head of the inquiry committee, questioned them separately at the Bangladesh Bank conference room.Following the grilling, former deputy governor S.K. Shur Chowdhury said the allegations raised against him were totally false and fabricated. “However, I told the fact finding committee what I needed to tell them,” he said.
He then left the central bank boarding his car hurriedly.
Earlier, on 17 February, Bangladesh Bank authorities formed an inquiry committee headed by deputy governor AKM Sajedur Rahman following observations of the High Court. Members of the committee include former judges and bureaucrats.
The committee is likely to submit its final report to the governor of the central bank next month.
The Bangladesh Bank constituted the committee mainly to investigate financial irregularities at Bangladesh Industrial Finance Company Limited (BIFC) and to ascertain the concerned officials’ involvement in this connection.
The committee has been investigating incidents of financial irregularities in other financial institutions as well as the role of concerned officials. The committee members have been talking to officials of the central bank and directors and officials of other banks and financial institutions to this end.
On 17 December last year, the High Court bench of justice Khurshid Alam Sarker issued an order in a petition filed seeking removal of the BIFC board of directors.
The court observed that everyone in charge of overseeing the activities of financial institutions since 2002 should be made accountable.
