BB grills NRBC Bank CEO over loan scandal

Bangladesh Bank has grilled NRB Commercial Bank's Managing Director Dewan Mujibur Rahman on charge of his alleged involvement in a number of loan scandals.

A BB standing committee started interrogating Rahman in a personal hearing at the BB headquarters on October 16 and completed the process yesterday, a central bank official confirmed The Daily Star requesting anonymity.

If Rahman fails to give convincing answers, the central bank would remove him from the post as per the law, the official said.

Last year, the central bank inspection teams found that Rahman was allegedly involved in disbursing loans worth over Tk 700 crore violating the credit norms.  

Rahman's hearing is a third instance of such actions taken against managing directors.

The banking regulator earlier arranged such hearings against former BASIC Bank Managing Director Kazi Faqurul Islam and Agrani Bank CEO Syed Abdul Hamid. Both of them were removed from their posts later.

The BB issued the letter to Rahman on March 20 asking him to explain why the central bank would not remove him from the bank for 'failing to ensure the proper management and interest of the depositors'.

The standing committee will finally submit a recommendation about Rahman to the governor whether he will be removed or not, the BB official said.