Now Sonali Life chairman resigns amid investigation

The current chairman of Sonali Life Insurance Company Limited, Mostafa Golam Quddus, has resigned for the sake of a fair investigation into the allegations raised against him and the company.

"I have resigned from the post of chairman today for proper investigation of the allegations leveled against me and the company," he told The Daily Star today evening.

His resignation came four days after the board suspended Sonali Life's Chief Executive Officer Mir Rashed Bin Aman over allegations of misappropriating funds.

Independent Director Quazi Moniruzzaman has been elected as the new chairman of Sonali Life.

He was elected at an emergency board meeting of the board of the insurer today, said an official of Sonali Life on condition of anonymity.

Moniruzzaman is managing director of Max Sweaters and a director of Rupali Insurance Company Limited, according to the website of Sonali Life.

The insurance watchdog appointed audit firm Hoda Vasi Chowdhury & Co on December 31 to complete within 30 days investigations into 17 claims of irregularities at Sonali Life, including that over Quddus's appointment.

The allegations include the chairperson not meeting the prerequisite of owning a minimum of 2 percent of the company's shares and purchase of a Tk 1.7 crore luxury car for the chairperson alongside exorbitant expenses for its maintenance from 2021 to 2023.

Sonali Life also allegedly paid Tk 13.75 lakh in 2021 in the form of taxes owed by Dragon Sweater and Spinning, a company having no connection to the insurer other than being owned by Quddus.

The audit will also look into the means and manner through which Sonali Life directors purchased its shares to boost its paid-up capital in 2018.