[🇧🇩] Corruption Watch

Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/saifuzzaman-chy-owns-over-350-properties-uk-3548121

Saifuzzaman Chy owns over 350 properties in UK​

Reports Bloomberg News

Land Minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury

Former land minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury has built up a UK real estate empire of more than 350 properties worth about £200 million, Bloomberg News reported on Sunday.

The figures were based on a Bloomberg analysis of available Companies House corporate accounts in the UK, mortgage charges and HM Land Registry transactions.

Saifuzzaman properties range from luxury apartments in central London to housing in Tower Hamlets -- home to the largest Bangladeshi community in England -- and student accommodation in Liverpool.

The international news agency headquartered in New York City analysed nearly 250 of his UK properties and found that almost 90 percent were classified as new-builds when bought, a valuable component in a UK housing market suffering severe shortages.

These transactions took place during a period when the UK government had committed to making foreign property ownership more transparent amid criticism of the ease with which Russian oligarchs were able to hide their wealth in the UK. This process became more urgent in the wake of Moscow's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

His property deals could revive questions over whether UK's legislation to scrutinise such purchases involving politicians are effective, according to transparency advocates.
Bloomberg also identified at least five properties in Manhattan in the USA belonging to Saifuzzaman, bought for a total of about $6 million between 2018 and 2020, according to municipal property records.

He was re-elected as an MP, but lost his cabinet post after the January 7 national election, which was boycotted by the opposition after anti-government protests were violently put down. He has since become the chair of the parliamentary committee for land.

On December 29 last year, The Daily Star ran a report on Saifuzzaman's properties in the UK. Based on the newspaper's calculation from company filings publicly available on UK government websites, it found at least 260 properties in the UK, for which he has paid at least GBP 134.76 million or Tk 1,888 crore.

The three-time AL lawmaker also has at least 537 mortgages against properties in the UK, a vast majority of which are in London. However, his tax returns, submitted along with his affidavit to the Election Commission, states that he has no foreign income, The Daily Star reported.

The Bloomberg report said that in a pre-election declaration of his interests in December, Saifuzzaman listed his total assets at about Tk 258.3 million ($2.4 million), and those of his wife, Rukhmila Zaman, at about $993,000. He did not include his UK property holdings in the declaration of assets in Bangladesh. His 2022-23 salary as a minister of state is listed as about £10,000.

Bloomberg talked to Mezbaul Haque, a Bangladesh Bank spokesperson, who without commenting specifically on Saifuzzaman, said, "While residing in Bangladesh, there is no provision for an individual to accumulate wealth abroad…. As a general rule, we do not permit individuals to do so."

Saifuzzaman falls into the category of a "politically exposed person (PEP)," as defined in the UK's 2017 anti-money laundering legislation. It puts the onus on estate agents, lenders, property lawyers and others involved in business transactions in the UK to have procedures in place to identify PEPs.

Although these individuals can engage in business transactions such as buying property, their involvement should attract extra scrutiny.

Bloomberg approached the companies named in its story, including financial services and legal firms involved in the property purchases for the Chowdhury-owned companies. The firms that responded said relevant procedures had been followed. They, however, could not provide an elaborate comment due to concerns over commercial confidentiality.

The Daily Star made several phone calls to Saifuzzaman yesterday but found his mobile phone switched off. A text message was also sent to his number, but no response came.

Bloomberg also did not get any response from the former minister and his wife to requests for comments on his property holdings outside Bangladesh or his asset declaration.

On December 26 last year, Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), at a press conference, first raised the issue of a minister's business abroad worth over Tk 203 billion.

TIB did not disclose the name of the minister, but the anti-graft body said if any government authorities seek the information, they are ready to provide evidence.​

 

[Saif]

Tk 45,000cr stuck in shady loans

Directors of eight private banks borrowed heavily from each other’s banks in reciprocal lending practices fraught with serious risks. Some banks went one step further and lent thousands of crores to relatives of these banks’ chairmen or directors.

www.thedailystar.net

Tk 45,000cr stuck in shady loans
Eight banks provide loans to directors of other banks in a murky practice, bringing significant risks to the entire sector

Directors of eight private banks borrowed heavily from each other's banks in reciprocal lending practices fraught with serious risks. Some banks went one step further and lent thousands of crores to relatives of these banks' chairmen or directors.

The loans going in and out of these eight banks for directors amounted to Tk 25,000 crore at the end of 2023, according to their financial reports analysed by The Daily Star. Apart from this, four of these lenders provided around Tk 20,000 crore to the relatives of the bank directors. That means the total reciprocal loans sanctioned for these directors and their relatives amounted to Tk 45,000 crore. Most of these loans changed hands in the last five years.

Over the last three months, The Daily Star analysed the financial reports of the 51 scheduled banks currently operating in Bangladesh and found that no other banks except these eight were engaged in such lending practices.

The banks are Exim Bank, Islami Bank, Social Islami Bank, National Bank, IFIC Bank, First Security Islami Bank, Union Bank and Global Islami Bank.

These banks are known for their questionable banking practices and were allegedly linked with the just-ousted Awami League government. During Sheikh Hasina's 15-year rule, powerful business groups with banking assets, including S Alam, Beximco, Nassa and Sikder Group, thrived on murky politics and bent rules, exposing the entire financial sector to serious risks.

The combined contribution of the eight bank directors in question to the lenders' paid-up capital is TK 2,400 crore, or about 5 percent of the Tk 45,000 crore loans they have taken from each other.

Most of these groups were not capable of getting loans if their business practices and financial health were taken into account, and so they lent reciprocally.

As the central bank rules prohibit the lending of a bank to its own directors, the directors deployed this cunning method. This trend is not new, but it spread in the banking sector in the last seven to eight years, officials said.

"As most of the bank owners are also successful in their own businesses, the central bank cannot prevent banks from lending to the owners of other banks," a banking analyst said.

According to a 2014 central bank circular, commercial banks can lend to their directors' firms up to 50 percent of their contribution to the paid-up capital.

Four of these banks declined to comment for this story, and two others said the loans were sanctioned under relevant laws. The Daily Star could not reach the two other banks.

Bankers say such reciprocal lending is risky for the relevant banks and the banking sector as a whole.

This type of borrowing indicates that these directors helped each other out with depositors' money as they would find it difficult to secure loans from other banks, they add.

Most of the loans were approved following the orders of the directors, and bank officials had nothing to do, according to three mid-level bankers at Islami Bank, Social Islami Bank and Exim Bank.

Requesting anonymity, they said several banks lent some companies large sums, in many cases multiple times their annual sales.

"So how will they repay the loans?" said one of the three bankers. His view was echoed by the two others.

'UNDUE BENEFITS'

Data show Islami Bank and Social Islami Bank started engaging in reciprocal lending in 2016 when these two banks were taken over by S Alam Group.

Exim Bank, National Bank, and IFIC Bank have already been involved in such lending practices for years, but on a limited scale. The size of such loans multiplied over the last 10 years.

When banks lend to relatives of their directors, they put the banks at risk since the financial strength of the borrowers is not seriously considered while sanctioning these loans, experts say.

These borrowers usually get undue benefits in taking loans, and repayment. Several banks are already facing risks because of such lending.

The financial statements of the companies in question should be analysed to see whether their assets and liabilities support the lending, Bangladesh Bank spokesman Mezbaul Haque told The Daily Star.

"If it is over-lending, the central bank will take action," he said.

EXIM BANK

Exim Bank provided Tk 8,115 crore, the highest amount of reciprocal loans, to several firms owned by directors of other banks. Of the amount, Tk 3,982 crore went to three companies owned by S Alam Group, whose chairman is Mohammed Saiful Alam, also chairman of First Security Islami Bank.

For its part, First Security Islami Bank lent Nassa Group, whose outstanding loan at the bank was Tk 734 crore at the end of 2023.

Nazrul Islam Mazumder, chairman of Exim Bank, himself took loans from most of these banks in the name of Nassa Group, which he owns. Nassa Group also secured loans from Islami Bank, where S Alam's son Ahsanul Alam is the chairman.

Exim Bank lent Tk 801 crore to Unitex Spinning and its associates, whose managing director Belal Ahmed is the chairman of Social Islami Bank (SIBL).

Nassa Group's outstanding loan to SIBL stands at Tk 651 crore.

Beximco and its various concerns' loan outstanding at Exim Bank was Tk 661 crore at the end of 2023. Beximco's Vice-chairman Salman F Rahman is also chairman of IFIC Bank. To IFIC Bank, Nassa Group's outstanding loan is Tk 637 crore.

Exim Bank lent Tk 2,671 crore to PowerPac Mutiara Keraniganj Power Plant, a sister concern of Sikder Group, controlled by Rick Haque Sikder and his brother Ron Haque Sikder. They had also directorships at the National Bank before they were forced out by the regulator.

Nassa Group's loan outstanding to National Bank was Tk 1,632 crore at the end of 2023.

Exim Bank's financial reports show Mazumder and his family contributed around Tk 250 crore to the paid-up capital of Exim Bank by holding 25 crore shares.

Under central bank rules, he is eligible to secure only Tk 125 crore (50 percent of the share value) of loans from the bank.

"This is a concentration of lending and this type of lending creates risks for a bank though this loan has not become defaulted yet," said Muhammad A (Rumee) Ali, a veteran banker.

"If any big borrower defaults, it would make the bank vulnerable. A good bank usually does not allow this type of lending due to such concerns," he said.

To avoid the loan concentration, the central bank rolled out a rule of a single exposure limit. But these banks have systematically dodged the rule by taking loans in the name of several firms.

"From the banking side, it is not difficult to find out who is the ultimate beneficiary of the loans, so they should be careful," said Ali, a former deputy governor of Bangladesh Bank.

SOCIAL ISLAMI BANK

Social Islami Bank (SIBL) provided loans of Tk 1,700 crore to directors of other banks, and its Chairman Belal Ahmed took loans from their banks. For instance, it lent Tk 1,049 crore to several firms of Infinia Group whose chairman is Ahsanul Alam, also chairman of Islami Bank.

In return, Islami Bank lent Tk 2,221 crore to two firms of Unitex Group whose managing director is Belal Ahmed.

Apart from these reciprocal lending, SIBL lent Tk 3,199 crore to several firms and sister concerns of S Alam Group. SIBL Chairman Belal Ahmed and S Alam Group's Saiful Alam are relatives.

Unitex Group holds around 4.5 crore shares in SIBL. This means the company's contribution to the paid-up capital of the bank is less than Tk 50 crore. Several relatives of S Alam also hold shares at the bank and their combined contribution to the bank's paid-up capital is around Tk 230 crore.

ISLAMI BANK

Islami Bank reciprocally lent Tk 4,333 crore to directors of other banks.

Apart from this, the bank's lending to S Alam Group's several firms alone stood at Tk 14,167 crore.

In Islami Bank, Ahsanul Alam, who is the bank chairman, and his relatives hold shares equivalent to Tk 350 crore of the bank's paid-up capital.

Since S Alam Group did not invest in Islami Bank in its own name, the bank has no legal binding in lending to the Group's companies.

OTHER BANKS

Similar practices were widespread at National Bank, IFIC Bank, First Security Islami Bank, Global Islami Bank and Union Bank.

National Bank for example lent Tk 7,080 crore to several companies whose owners are also directors of other banks. These loans were provided to Beximco Group, Nassa Group, and S Alam Group.

Sikder Group, in return, received loans from IFIC Bank, Exim Bank, and First Security Islami Bank.

Similarly, IFIC Bank lent TK 1,075 crore to Nassa Group and Sikder Group. In return, Beximco Group got loans from Exim Bank and National Bank.

IFIC Bank provided loans of Tk 1,020 crore to Sreepur Township Ltd, where Beximco is a joint venture partner.

Salman F Rahman and his son Ahmed Shayan Rahman hold 4.11 percent or 7.51 crore shares of the bank worth Tk 75 crore.

First Security Islami Bank provided those types of loans amounting Tk 2,442 crore.

Global Islami Bank and Union Group's reciprocal lending to each other was Tk 1,618 crore.

Several relatives of S Alam hold 30 crore shares at Global Islami Bank, meaning their investment is around Tk 300 crore in the bank. In Union Bank, S Alam Group holds shares worth Tk 570 crore.

The Daily Star first contacted most of these banks on June 15 and followed up with them on August 12-13. Representatives from National Bank, First Security Islami Bank, IFIC Bank, and Exim Bank did not respond or declined to comment.

Zafar Alam, chief operating officer at SIBL, said they sanctioned all loans in line with banking rules, and that the borrowers, including S Alam Group, are eligible for big loans.

Islami Bank CEO Mohammed Monirul Moula said they have been investing in Nassa Group and S Alam Group since the 1990s, and that the two groups' performance was excellent.​

 

[Saif]

Tk 3.11cr recovered from ex-senior secretary's house

Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) recovered a huge amount of money, including local and foreign currencies worth around Tk 3.11 crore, from the house of a former senior secretary on Babar Road in the capital’s Mohammadpur area today

www.thedailystar.net

Tk 3.11cr recovered from ex-senior secretary's house

Photo: Collected

Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) recovered a huge amount of money, including local and foreign currencies worth around Tk 3.11 crore, from the house of a former senior secretary on Babar Road in the capital's Mohammadpur area today.

The DMP informed the matter through a text message around 7:30pm today.

Based on a tip off, the DMP conducted a raid and recovered the money from house no. 29/2 and 29/3, Block F, Babar Road in Mohammadpur, according to the message.

DMP sources said the house belongs to Shah Kamal, former senior secretary at the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief.

He served the ministry from 2015 to 2019 as secretary and from 2019 to 2020 as senior secretary.

According to DMP, it recovered around Tk 3.01 crore in cash, prize bonds worth Tk 74,400 and different foreign currencies including US Dollar worth Tk 10.03 lakh.​

 

[Saif]

Is dual citizenship to blame for money laundering?

“Is Bangladesh a place of looters?” – this question was raised by the High Court last month.

www.thedailystar.net

Is dual citizenship to blame for money laundering?
“Is Bangladesh a place of looters?” – this question was raised by the High Court last month.

VISUAL: TEENI AND TUNI

"Is Bangladesh a place of looters?" – this question was raised by the High Court last month. The court asked this question referring to a recent Bangla report, whose headline roughly translates to "Festival of purchasing properties abroad." The court's question is indicative of what is going on in the financial sector of Bangladesh right now. But to blame "dual citizenship" for the ever-growing culture of looting as well as money laundering may be inappropriate.

The act of earning a second citizenship in another country has never been a main contributor to trafficking funds overseas. While investigating the main reasons or avenues of illicit outflows of funds, not a single report of the US-based think tank Global Financial Integrity has blamed dual citizenship as a vital reason. Rather, dual citizenship has proven to be a boon to remittance inflows in Bangladesh, and those inflows rescued the economy from sliding into a full-scale disaster emerging from the dollar crisis.

As reports in February unveiled, the US is the top source of remittances to Bangladesh, surpassing Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The US requires residency or citizenship to allow Bangladeshi people to earn and send dollars to their home country. Other European countries that award citizenship to Bangladeshi people are gradually turning out to be increasingly reliable sources of remittance income. In contrast, Middle-Eastern countries are gradually losing their oil-based revenue because of the rise in green substitutes. These nations are comparatively restrictive in offering their citizenship to Bangladeshi workers. As a result, the relative share of remittance from these countries is dwindling.

The court's direction in framing causality may be mistaken. Dual citizenship is not the root factor for looting wealth from the country. It is the very "Bangladeshi style of rewarding for looting banks" that is to blame for the financial haemorrhage that Bangladesh is facing now. In the name of loan rescheduling, the general amnesty conferred upon the big defaulters by the central bank is a major reason why the act of looting has triggered a renaissance of stashing funds overseas of late. Recently, a former central bank governor commented that the concessions given to defaulters in this country have no parallel in any country or in history.

Of course, the looters are sometimes seeking dual citizenship under the "investment residency" quota in different countries by showing their enormous wealth, which they gained through the loose banking rules approved by the government. Getting citizenship in developed countries is hard and problematic for them, because those countries will ask for evidence of valid sources. These looters prefer parking their funds in countries where there are less queries. In the end, they park their ill-gotten money in the Swiss Bank which does not ask anything. Thus, allowing these looters to steal and get away with it in the first place is the root cause of looting, not dual citizenship.

Hundreds of cases on defaulted loans are pending with legal institutions, and there has been no exemplary punishment for those who plundered public money. That impunity induces the delinquent borrowers to acquire dual citizenship in order to protect their future overseas. The trend of money laundering as well as defaulting on loans is simultaneously rising since the government allowed extended family-based directorship in private banks in 2017. It invariably helped banks turn into private shops for siblings and cronies, and largely ruined the corporate culture. These institutional changes and privileges to the tycoons are at the root of money laundering. The tardiest legal system has refuelled the culture of looting. A former caretaker government adviser recently blamed court stay orders on big default cases – a process that has made the wound even worse.

The justices commented that dual citizenship holders have less responsibility towards the country as their hearts are divided. Thousands of students migrate to developed nations every year for higher studies. When they earn citizenship after getting jobs, they send money back to their families. They also enrich their birthplace by delivering their ideas, technology, and expertise – which economists define as trickle-down benefits. Many Bangladeshis migrate overseas through lotteries or family visas. They struggle a lot, but still send money back to their home country. By any means, these are not any instances of either less responsibility or divided hearts.

Forty-nine percent of all countries now allow dual citizenship and most of them are developed or middle-income countries. After understanding how beneficial dual citizenship can be for Bangladesh in an increasingly globalised world, the government on February 27 added another 44 countries on top of the existing 57 countries where Bangladeshis can get dual citizenship. This step deserves appreciation as timely and farsighted for a super-densely populated country like Bangladesh.

While Bangladesh appears to be liberal in allowing dual citizenship, both Pakistan and India are highly restrictive. But the amount of money laundered out of India or Pakistan is no less than that from Bangladesh. The 2021 Global Financial Integrity Report shows that Bangladesh lost the third highest quantity of trade-related outflows ($8.3 billion) after Pakistan ($8.5 billion) and India ($67.5 billion) annually over 2009-2018. The revenue loss was 17 percent for Bangladesh, 19 percent for Pakistan, and 20 percent for India. The nature of citizenship seems to have played no role in their case.

Poor governance in the financial sector, politicised interventions into banking affairs, allowing massive clemency to habitual defaulters, rewarding money launderers in the national budget and, finally, not punishing any big defaulters or stock market scammers are the main reasons why money laundering and buying properties abroad by a handful of bandits have skyrocketed. On February 6, the agriculture minister acknowledged the evolution of Begum Paras in Canada, US and Dubai. It has nothing to do with dual citizenship, which has been in place among nations for decades.

If anyone is politically pampered and plots to be a wilful defaulter, they needn't be overseas to remain safe. They are much safer in what the court labels as a "place of looters." If they can somehow manage a nomination for the next election, this place will turn into a "paradise of plundering" for them. Why would anyone care about dual citizenship then?

Dr Birupaksha Paul is a professor of economics at the State University of New York at Cortland in the US.​

 

[Bilal9]

Global Defence Corp. (a supposedly US-based thinktank) is reporting that Hasina, Rehana, Rehana's daughter Tulip (British MP) and Hasina's son Joy conspired with Russians (RosAtom, Russia's Nuclear plant builder) to embezzle close to 5 Billion through various offshore accounts at Malaysian banks.

Ousted Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Her Son Sajeeb Wazed Joy And Niece Tulip Siddiq Embezlled $5 Billion From Overpriced $12.65 Billion Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant Through Malaysian Banks

The long-cherished dream of having Bangladesh’s nuclear power plant began forming when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina launched the main building construction phase in 2017. Nuclear power plants are e…

www.globaldefensecorp.com

Of course, if this is indeed true - one cannot blame RosAtom, they were probably forced into the lucrative deal by Hasina's insistence. It is also no secret that Hasina gave Indians complete access as contractors to the project, their people (RAW operatives) know the ins and oouts of the plant and its blueprints. The more I think about it - the more angry I get, what a traitor to the country this woman was, both politically and financially! All because Modi gave her assurances to let her stay in power!!

Rosatom - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

@Saif bhai please keep me honest, I don't know if the source Global Defense Corp. is a legit entity.

 

[Saif]

S Alam group, Associates: Tk 95,000cr loans taken from 6 banks

S Alam Group and its associate companies took out Tk 95,331 crore between 2017 and June this year from six banks, with 79 percent of the sum coming from Islami Bank.

www.thedailystar.net

S Alam group, Associates: Tk 95,000cr loans taken from 6 banks

S Alam Group and its associate companies took out Tk 95,331 crore between 2017 and June this year from six banks, with 79 percent of the sum coming from Islami Bank.

This amount is equivalent to 5.78 percent of the banking sector's total outstanding loans as of March.

However, the total amount taken from these six banks is likely higher, according to Bangladesh Bank and bank officials with knowledge of the matter.

Documents pieced together by The Daily Star show that most of the loans were taken by bypassing banking rules and regulations, which is a testament to how the Chattogram-based conglomerate exerted its influence on the country's banking sector.

Founded in 1985 by Mohammad Saiful Alam, a relative of former Awami League politician Akhtaruzzanan Chowdhury Babu and former Land Minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, S Alam Group has grown into one of the largest conglomerates in Bangladesh.

For example, within one month of opening an account with Islami Bank's Chaktai branch in Chattogram, a modest corrugated tin seller Murad Enterprise was given Tk 890 crore without even verifying the need for the funds and the company's financial capacity to pay back the sum.

A year later, another loan of Tk 110 crore was given to the company, which turned out to be a shadow company of S Alam Group, BB documents show.

What is worse is that the bank, where S Alam Group has controlling stakes, took very little collateral from Murad Enterprise.

The conglomerate and companies with ties to it took Tk 74,900 crore from Islami Bank, whose chairman since June last year is Alam's eldest son Ahsanul Alam.

Of the amount, Tk 26,000 crore was borrowed in the name of its subsidiaries, and the remaining amount was in the name of 29 associate companies, such as Nabil Group, Desh Bandhu Group, Unitex Group, and Anantex Group.

Islami Bank's Khatunganj branch in Chattogram is particularly noteworthy: a staggering Tk 35,924 crore was taken from the branch through 10 companies, documents show.

S Alam Group and its shadow companies, such as Nabil Foods, Nabil Auto Rice Mills, MS AJ Trade International, and Anowara Trade International, secured loans amounting to Tk 29,575 crore from the Rajshahi branch of Islami Bank.

Another Tk 23,900 crore was taken from Islami's offshore banking unit and other branches over the years in violation of rules.

Rules were also not followed by state-run Janata when extending loans to the business giant, whose interests range from commodity trading to fishery, from construction materials to real estate, from textiles to media, from intercity buses to shipping, and from power and energy to banks and insurance.

S Alam Group and its affiliate companies took Tk 13,400 crore from state-run Janata Bank.

About Tk 10,449.45 crore was taken in the name of S Alam subsidiaries, with as much as 90 percent of the loans taken from Janata's Sadharan Bima Corporate Branch in Chattogram.

The remaining Tk 2,950.55 crore was taken from Janata by its associate companies.

Janata's lending to S Alam Group breached the bank's single borrower exposure limit by an alarming margin.

According to banking law, a bank is prohibited from lending more than 25 percent of its paid-up capital to a single party. At the end of June this year, Janata's paid-up capital stood at Tk 2,314 crore.

Some Tk 4,200 crore was taken from Social Islami Bank (SIBL), whose chairman Belal Ahmed is Alam's son-in-law. Five more relatives of Alam are on the board of SIBL.

Some Tk 2,000 crore was taken from Union Bank, whose board consists of Alam's siblings Halima Begum, Osman Goni, and Md Rashedul Alam and his wife Marzina Sharmin. Their nephew, Mohammad Mostan Billah Adil, is also on the board.

S Alam Group and its associate companies took Tk 574 crore from Global Islami Bank (GIB), whose vice-chairman is Alam's daughter Maimuna Khanam. Seven other relatives of Alam, including his brother Shahidul Alam and sister Rokea Yasmin, are on the board of the 11-year-old bank.

Some Tk 257 crore was taken from First Security Islami Bank (FSIBL), whose chairman is Alam himself. Alam's wife, Farzana Parveen, and four other relatives are on the board of FSIBL.

If the loans taken by its associate companies are added, the total amounts taken from SIBL, FSIBL, Union, and GIB will go up, according to industry insiders.

In light of the gross irregularities, the BB yesterday restricted the lending activities of the banks save for Janata.

Alam; Subrata Kumar Bhowmik, executive director of S Alam Group; the managing directors of the six banks; and BB spokesman Md Mezbaul Haque could not be reached for comment.​