UCB freed from ex-land minister, family’s grip

The family of former land minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury Javed lost its grip on United Commercial Bank (UCB) yesterday as the Bangladesh Bank dissolved the lender's board of directors.

The dissolved 18-member board was heavily dominated by Saifuzzaman's family members, including his sister Roxana Zaman Chaudhury and relatives Anisuzzaman Chowdhury and Asifuzzaman Chowdhury.

Saifuzzaman's wife, Rukhmila Zaman, had been serving as chairman of the bank till August 16, when the bank reconstituted the board of its own accord in an attempt to keep a portion of Saifuzzaman's family onboard, industry insiders alleged.

The bank reconstituted its board again yesterday for the same reason just hours before the banking regulator dissolved the board, they added.

Over the years, Saifuzzaman has influenced various activities at the bank, including approval of loans, according to the insiders.

The central bank constituted a five-member board for the bank, including two shareholder directors and three independent directors.

Sharif Zahir, chairman of National Finance, was made a shareholder director. Zahir is also the managing director of Ananta Group and a former vice-chairman of UCB.

Md Tanvir Khan, director of Eastland Insurance, is the other shareholder director.

Sajjad Hossain, former executive director of Bangladesh Bank, Yusuf Ali, former deputy managing director of Agrani Bank, and Obaidur Rahman, a chartered accountant, were named independent directors.

The new board was constituted to protect the interests of the depositors and ensure good governance as per section 45 of the Bank Company Act, 1991, read a letter from the central bank to the UCB managing director.

Saifuzzaman has acquired at least 260 properties in the United Kingdom, paying at least 134.76 million British pounds or Tk 1,888 crore, according to The Daily Star's calculation based on company filings that are publicly available on UK government websites.

The three-time Awami League lawmaker also has at least 537 mortgages against properties in the UK, a majority of which are in London.

Allegations are also rife about the former land minister using UCB for personal gain.

The Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit found that Saifuzzaman and Rukhmila have also amassed huge fortunes in the United States and Dubai.

Saifuzzaman is a relative of S Alam Group Chairman Mohammed Saiful Alam.

TWO BANKS FREED OF S ALAM

The S Alam Group's dominance over two banks, namely Global Islami Bank and Union Bank, was upended yesterday as the Bangladesh Bank dissolved their boards, which were heavily controlled by individuals linked to the conglomerate.

In recent days, National Bank, Islami Bank Bangladesh and Social Islami Bank have also been freed from the S Alam Group's clutches.

The central bank dissolved the 21-member board of Global Islami Bank and 11-member board of Union Bank, and appointed five independent directors for each.

Mohammad Nurul Amin, former managing director of Meghna Bank, has been appointed as chairman of Global Islami Bank's board following his selection as an independent director.

Similarly, the banking watchdog appointed Md Farid Uddin Ahmed as the chairman of Union Bank after selecting him as an independent director.

Ahmed is a former managing director of Islami Bank Bangladesh.

Founded in 1985 by Mohammed Saiful Alam, a relative of former Awami League politician Akhtaruzzaman Chowdhury Babu, S Alam Group has grown into one of the largest conglomerates in Bangladesh.

The banks have been facing huge deficits in their current account balances with the central bank for more than a year due to widespread loan irregularities and scams.