Dollar manipulation of banks; Deep conspiracy, needs exemplary punishment

Six banks in Bangladesh are squandering with dollars crisis. These banks have been found guilty in the investigation of Bangladesh Bank and for this, the heads of the treasury department of these banks have been removed from their duties. Bangladesh Bank said, this measure has been taken in response to their unacceptable approach to make extra profit by destabilizing the US dollar market. These banks are are Standard Chartered Bank, BRAC Bank, City Bank, Prime Bank, Dutch Bangla Bank and Southeast Bank. At least five of these banks have had various complaints against them in the past, including money laundering. But all those complaints were ignored. The investigation stopped midway for reasons unknown. Banking experts say that punishing only the treasury chiefs is not enough, but strict and exemplary action must be taken against these banks. Because the fraud has happened from the top-level officials of the bank. For this reason, from the board of directors of the bank to its managing director, everyone should be brought under scrutiny and exemplary punishment should be given if anyone found guilty.

The dollar market in Bangladesh has become destabilized since quite a few days. The price of the dollar has risen sharply due to the scarcity of dollars in the open market. The price of one dollar was equivalent to Tk 119 in the open market on Wednesday. Bangladesh Bank is being repeatedly forced to adjust the value of the dollar with the taka and this has reached an alarming level. Findings show that the dollar market has become volatile due to the manipulation of a few banks. It is not only done from the point of view of business profit but there is also a deep anti-national conspiracy behind it. These 6 banks are involved in implementing a blue plan to endanger the government and destroy the country's economy.

Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) has a list of long-standing complaints against it among other banks. Former foreign minister BNP leader Morshed Khan’s son-in law used to work here before. It was alleged that this bank had a role in money laundering during this tenure. Morshed Khan's son-in-law was accused of money laundering and was also quizzed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). He admitted to the allegations of laundering. He also informed that a large amount of money was smuggled abroad through this bank. But then there was no further progress on it as the matter was covered up. There are many such complaints against this bank. These allegations were never investigated. A Bangladesh Bank official said on condition of anonymity that since it is multinational bank, the apex bank is always flexible with them.

The second bank involved in dollar manipulation is Prime Bank. Azam J Chowdhury is one of the owners of Prime Bank. Currently his son is serving as the chairman of this bank. Azam J Chowdhury filed a false defamation case against Awami League President Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during One-Eleven in 2007. The Awami League president had to be imprisoned and had to spend almost 11 months in prison. But the Awami League government has not taken any action against Azam J Chowdhury despite being in power for 13 years. On the contrary, he expanded his amount of wealth. There are various allegations against Azam J Chowdhury including money laundering. Although there have been specific allegations, particularly through over-invoicing, those investigation has not progressed much.

BRAC Bank was established with financing of poor people. It was established when the amount of micro-loans scheme that BRAC ran were inflated. It was said that the bank was established to bring the poor and marginalized people into under the mainstream economy. But gradually it became an elite bank. Small borrowers and poor people cannot even go to the balcony of this bank. Several investigations have revealed that BRAC Bank is used as one of the medium to keep money of rich people and to launder it abroad. When BRAC Bank was established, a writ petition was filed challenging the validity of this bank by renowned economist Dr. Mozaffar Ahmed. But the writ did not last due to legal complications. It is said that the huge empire that BRAC Bank has made with the micro-loan schemes from poor people, has now become one of the institutions of financial irregularities. Various people have become victims of frauds in this bank and they have not been properly remedied. According to Bangladesh Bank's report, 48 customer fraud complaints were received against the bank from 2010 to 2020. But none of these were investigated. 'BRAC Bank' is an institution controlled by BRAC. The current chairperson of BRAC is Hossain Zillur Rahman who was one of the main masterminds of One-Eleven. He had close ties with Dr Muhammad Yunus an he took charge as an advisor to the unelected government in 2007 with Dr Yunus’s recommendation.

City Bank also has various long-standing complaints including money laundering against it. Pertex Group holds almost the entire board of directors of this bank. There are multiple allegations against Pertex Group. The founder of Pertex was a MP for the opposition party BNP and and is also one of their financiers. After his death, his children are also in close contact with BNP. Many people feel that it is necessary to look into whether there is any political connection with the activities of City Bank in recent times. Earlier, there was a complaint of sexual harassment against a senior official of City Bank. But the law enforcement agencies have maintained a kind of silence on the allegations for reasons unknown. The managing director of this bank is known to be close to the civil society.

Although the central bank has several complaints of money laundering through over invoicing against Dutch Bangla Bank, the investigation of all those complaints has not further progressed or came to any conclusion. Why it did not progress is also a big question. From 2011 to 2016, there were five allegations of money laundering against this bank, but Bangladesh Bank showed no interest in investigating it.

A recent investigation by Bangladesh Bank showed that these banks were buying more dollars than the demand and selling those dollars at a higher price. The dollar was sold at a price Tk 25 higher than the price at which it was bought. When the inspection team of Bangladesh Bank went to these banks, they found that they had bought and collected more dollars than what they needed. That means, these 6 banks have a direct role behind creating a dollar crisis in the market which triggered an inflation. Due to this, the price of fuel has increased and there has been a kind of discontent among the people. Therefore, economic experts feel that these 6 banks were involved in such nefarious activities to destroy the country's economy in a planned manner and such misdeeds cannot be done by only a senior officer of the bank or the head of the treasury. Top officials starting from Board of directors and managing directors are involved in this.

A banking expert said that such incidents cannot happen without the consent of the top officials. Therefore, these banks have worked systematically to create an artificial crisis of dollars in the market to damage the economy, increase the prices of goods and endanger the government. The authorities concerned think that action should be taken against these banks not only under banking law, but also under criminal law. The owners and management board of these banks should be arrested immediately and given exemplary punishment. Otherwise, such incidents will continue to happen. If action is not taken against these 6 banks, then other banks will also join in these conspiracies in the future. It will be more difficult to handle the economic pressure then.