Mohiuddin Ahmed Mohi, a former chairman of Bangladesh Samabaya Bank Ltd, embezzled over 11,000 bhori (each bhori is 11.66 grammes) of mortgaged gold from 2,316 customers prior to 2021.

The embezzled gold was valued at more than Tk 40 crore at the time.

Mohi, who is also the joint general secretary of the Dhaka City South Awami League, was aided by a few corrupt officials of the bank, which was established to provide easy loans to small and medium cooperative farmers.

Speaking at an event in Cumilla's Kotbari on September 29, Local Government, Rural Development, and Cooperative Adviser AF Hasan Arif brought the issue to light.

"Upon reviewing the state of the cooperative bank, I found 12,000 bhori of missing gold. A committee has already been formed to investigate the matter and legal action will be taken against those involved."

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12,000 bhori gold go missing from Samabaya Bank

It was revealed that in February 2021, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) had concluded an investigation and filed a case.

The former chairman, Mohi, along with eight bank officials, were named in the case. Five of them have been arrested, but Mohi, also a sitting vice-president of the Bangladesh Football Federation, is not among them.

The case is currently under trial, according to Akhtarul Islam, deputy director and public relations officer of the ACC.

According to the ACC's investigation report, Mohi and others fraudulently embezzled 7,398 bhori and 11 aana of mortgaged gold from 2,316 customers by bypassing legal procedures, committing forgery and abusing their power.

Ahasanul Ghani, acting general manager and chief executive officer of Samabaya Bank, told The Daily Star: "As far as we know, 7,398 bhori and 11 aana of mortgaged gold was embezzled from 2,316 customers. This is the net weight of the gold. The gross weight exceeds 11,000 bhori."

Attempts were made to reach Mohi for comment, but his phone was switched off and he did not respond to messages.

FINDINGS FROM ACC PROBE

During the investigation, the ACC collected and verified 455 applications seeking the return of mortgaged gold that were approved by the Dhaka branch of Samabaya Bank.

It found that only 120 of those applications were made by the rightful owners while the remaining 335 showed discrepancies in signatures and did not match with associated national IDs.

The investigation revealed that these individuals fraudulently received the gold instead of the rightful owners. In this manner, gold totalling 1,594 bhori and 14 aana, valued at Tk 8.64 crore at the time, was embezzled.

It was also found that lower-ranking bank officials were threatened with termination if they did not cooperate.

Narayanganj Cooperative Credit Ltd had also deposited a large amount of gold belonging to their customers with the Bangladesh Samabaya Bank. For that mortgaged gold, the ACC uncovered 1,984 applications that were approved, out of which only three were valid.

The rest showed mismatched signatures and fraudulent identities. As a result, 5,803 bhori and 13 aana, with a total value of Tk 31.44 crore at the time, was embezzled.

In total, gold worth Tk 40.08 crore at the time was embezzled from 2,316 customers. However, as the mortgage was paid, this fraudulent activity resulted in a net embezzlement of Tk 11.39 crore.

Ghani, the bank's acting general manager and CEO, lamented: "When the bank's chairman is the main perpetrator, there is little the bank can do. However, all the accused have been made OSD (Officer on Special Duty), and none of them have been brought back to the bank."

He also mentioned that the current board would cooperate with any fresh investigation.