The Bangladesh Bank (BB) has found a mismatch of Tk 82.44 lakh between cash kept in BRAC Bank's Chokoria branch vault in Cox's Bazar and that mentioned in its books.

The difference was detected during an inspection of the central bank.

The BB started the inspection on December 22 last year based on the financial statement of the bank as of June 30, 2024.

A central bank inspection team spotted the mismatch on December 19 last year after the close of banking hours on the eve of the inspection, showed a central bank document.

Such inconsistencies are a severe form of banking irregularity, it said.

After unearthing the mismatch, the central bank on December 22 sent a letter to the chairman of BRAC Bank informing about the issue.

In the letter, the BB asked to take necessary measures to address the discrepancy and take legal measures against officials responsible for it.

The banking regulator also asked to inform about the measures within 10 working days of the issuance of the letter.

Contacted, Ekram Kabir, head of communications of BRAC Bank, told The Daily Star that the bank immediately took legal action against the person involved as soon as the matter was identified.

He said the person responsible has been handed over to the police.

"We have already recovered Tk 47 lakh and are confident about recovering the remaining amount soon," he said.

All customer deposits in the bank are fully insured, and no customer has suffered or will suffer any financial loss due to this incident, Kabir said.

"No customer has ever suffered any financial loss in our bank due to such an incident," he added.