Ibrahim Khaled quits ILFSL, says Tk 1,600 crore was looted

Renowned economist and former deputy governor of Bangladesh Bank Khondkar Ibrahim Khaled has resigned from International Leasing and Financial Services Ltd (ILFSL), 25 days after he was appointed as its chairman following a High Court order.

Khaled resigned from his post today citing health reasons.

"I have resigned over health reasons. Considering my poor health, it is not possible for me to work in the stressful situation there. Hence I have resigned," he told The Daily Star.

"I have also submitted my report on the internal affairs of ILFSL to the honourable chief justice on February 25," Khaled said.

"If there is any complication over banking or management, then that can be remedied. Like the case of Pubali Bank. In early 2000 when it was incurring losses, I joined it and then gradually turned it into a profitable institution," he said.

"However, ILFSL's problem is neither related to banking nor management. The problem is its money has been looted. One PK Halder and his associates ate up Tk 1,600 crore of a Tk 3,500 crore loan."

"In 2015, ISFSL's chairman was Mahbub Jamil, who was leading it as one of the top financial organisations. Then 'PK group' took over the organisation, forcing him to leave, and then reshuffled the board and management by appointing their own people. They then looted Tk 1,600 crore from ISFSL," Khaled said.

"He [PK Halder] has relocated to Canada. Possibly, the money has also been laundered to Canada. If the country's money is laundered, it is the Anti-Corruption Commission's responsibility to bring it back. Regular people like us cannot do this job."

"In this context, Bangladesh Bank is the regulatory authority, not the court. The court had, in all likelihood, appointed me with good intent. But I was a chairman without any authority there. Bangladesh Bank needs to step in here," he said.

"I think, if the central bank appoints an administrator there and brings in ACC to investigate [the money laundering] then that would be the right step in this regard."

"I worked there [ISFSL] as chairman for 25 days. During this time, nobody there told me anything about the internal situation of the organisation. I had to find out about it from Bangladesh Bank," he added.