Loan of Tk 963 crore in the name of 102 extremely poor people

Rasel Ahmed, a resident of Hajir Para in Patiya Upazila of Chittagong. Russell, who lives in a dilapidated mud house, cannot even stand without the help of others due to illness. Four years ago, a person took out a National Identity Card (NID) for Russell, promising to help him. He has not received any help till date. However, a loan of Tk 9.27 crore has been created in his name at the Pahartali branch of United Commercial Bank (UCB) in Chittagong.

Russell Ahmed was presented as the owner of Russell Enterprise and this loan was taken in his name in 2022 and 2023. The bedridden Russell said that he had never applied for a loan, let alone visited this bank. He had not even opened a bank account. Tk 963 crore has been taken in the name of 102 extremely poor people like Russell from five branches of UCB in Chittagong. Samakal reports.

Mohammad Zahir Uddin and Nurul Islam live side by side in East Rajghat, a remote Eidgarh area of ​​Ramur, Cox's Bazar. They are related by maternal uncles. They spend their days with their wives and children in two rooms next to the mat fence. Zahir, a night guard at the local market, and his wife Umme Salma were shown as the owners of Zahir International, and a loan of Tk 9.5 crore was taken from UCB's Chawkbazar branch in Chittagong. And Nurul Islam, a day laborer, and his wife Maymuna were made out to be the owners of Islam Enterprise. The same branch gave a loan of Tk 17 crore in the name of this organization.

After receiving the loan notice, a family feud began. The family began to distrust Zahir. Zahir separated from his wife. Maymuna, the wife of day laborer Nurul Islam, is mentally unstable. Their three children attend school. They stopped going to school due to the sarcasm of their classmates, who called them the children of a 'millionaire'.

The story of Mizanur Rahman, a resident of Baishari Boro Beel in Naikshongchhari, Bandarban district, is even more tragic. Mizan lives in a thatched house in the forest. He died of a heart attack in 2024 after learning about a loan of 85 million taka in his name from the Chittagong Port branch. Giving such information, his wife Taslima Begum said that she lives in a small mud house on a hill with her three children. She is somehow making ends meet by working in other people's houses. And she is restless because of the thought of her deceased husband's loan.

It is learned that United Commercial Bank has given them a loan of 449 crore taka in the name of 50 daily laborers from its Chawkbazar branch in Chittagong. Similarly, the bank has given 195 crore taka in the name of 22 people from the Pahartali branch, 166 crore taka in the name of 13 people from the Bandar branch, and 153 crore taka in the name of 17 people from the Bahaddarhat and Khatunganj branches.

According to UCB documents, these fake loans were given in 2021, 2022 and 2023. At that time, the bank was controlled by the family of Land Minister Jabed. Although he was not on the bank's board of directors as a minister, his wife Rukhmila Zaman was the chairman of the bank. Two brothers and two sisters were directors. The financial intelligence unit Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) has identified the Jabed family as the beneficiaries of these loans.

The BFIU report shows that in most cases, after the loan money went to these fake accounts, it was withdrawn in cash and deposited into the accounts of various institutions of the Aramit Group owned by the Jabed family. In many cases, information was also found that after depositing money into the accounts of others, it was transferred to various accounts of the Jabed family. The branches were renewed every year, which is why there was no default.

The BFIU completed inspections of UCB's Chawkbazar, Pahartali and Bandar branches in Chittagong and provided information to the ACC. Inspection officials said that in many cases, they found pads of fake institutions in the relevant branches. The inspection report said that the officials gave these loans by deliberately preparing fake documents. Although the institutions are newly registered, inexperienced and have no record of cash transactions, one loan has been approved one by one. No risk analysis was conducted before disbursing these loans; rather, the loans were created based on deliberate false information.

These daily wage earners, van drivers, and farmers do not have the financial capacity and business experience to take and repay loans. They have not been directly or indirectly involved in these loans. They have only withdrawn money from the bank by showing a trade license as a paper organization.

How daily wage earners are trapped in debt:

Everyone in whose name fake loans have been created is running out of money to buy salt. In most cases, Mohammad Abul Kalam, a resident of Eidgarh, Ramur, collects NIDs by promising to help them. This Kalam used to drive a rickshaw in Patiya, Chittagong a decade ago. About four years ago, he took a job in the godown of a person named Pradeep Biswas in Patiya Bazar. He collected NIDs of the people of Patiya. Kalam was assisted in collecting NID in Naikshongchhari by his brother-in-law and local resident Nurul Bashar. And in Ramu, by Mizanur Rahman, an employee of a tailor shop in the local market. The ACC has also accused this Abul Kalam in several cases.

UCB has also given large loans in the names of three people who helped collect NID. Among them, the loan given by the Pahartali branch of the bank by posing Abul Kalam as the owner of Jahan Trading has now reached Tk 96.5 crore including interest. Jahan Trading has also been used in money laundering.

A loan of Tk 13 crore was taken from the bank's Chawkbazar branch by posing Nurul Bashar as the owner of Bashar Enterprise. In addition, Tk 94.7 crore was taken from the port branch by posing Mizanur as the owner of Cats Eye Corporation.

Abul Kalam, who is in hiding, said on the telephone that he did not understand at all that NID was being taken for a loan. Thinking that he would help, he did not