Banking transaction timings are from 10 am to 3:30 pm. During this period money can be deposited and withdrawn in the bank. However, National Bank’s Gulshan corporate branch gave Tk 22.6 million in cash to a customer after 8 pm. This incident happened last December 28.

Bangladesh Bank said that bank officials have committed serious irregularities by making cash transactions after the stipulated time, which is a punishable offence. The central bank has ordered to take punitive measures for this.

The lucky customer who got this benefit is Infratech Construction Company Limited, headed by Ali Hyder Ratan. On the afternoon of December 28, the board of the bank renewed the customer’s loan. Then on that day at 6.50 pm the approval decision was sent to the branch. After that the money was withdrawn between 8:23 PM and 9:4 PM.

When asked, Managing Director of National Bank Mehmud Hossain told Prothom Alo, “We have received a letter in this regard.” A reply will be given in this regard within a certain time.

It is known that in the 475th meeting of the National Bank Board on December 28, a proposal was made to renew the loan of Infratech Construction Company Limited. It is said in the proposal, that 478.5 crores of loans beyond the limit have been opened. This customer’s loan to another bank is in default. If the loan is renewed, the customer will get the opportunity to withdraw 22.6 million taka.

After seeing the agenda of the board, on December 27, Saiful Islam, the appointed coordinator and executive director of the central bank, objected to the bank’s chairman Manowara Sikder, chairman of the audit committee Naimuzzaman Bhuiyan and the related officials of the bank and the relevant department of Bangladesh Bank in an e-mail regarding the loan renewal of Infratech Construction Company. However, the loan was approved. However, Saiful Islam’s objection was not mentioned in the minutes of the bank.

The bank’s chairman, Manwara Sikder, is said to be undergoing treatment at a US hospital. Executive Committee Chairman Parveen Haque Sikder also did not attend the meeting that day. In the presence of other directors, the director of the bank Rik Haque Sikder acted as the chairman in the meeting on December 28. In the meeting, the bank’s officials raised the objection of the central bank’s coordinator, but the loan renewal proposal was approved.

On the same day, the customer withdrew Tk 22.60 million from Gulshan Corporate Branch. A review of the customer’s account statement showed that on December 28, 5 crore rupees were withdrawn in 4 rounds and 2 crore 60 lakh rupees were withdrawn in 1 round.

In this context, in a letter sent to the MD of the National Bank on February 13, Bangladesh Bank said, ‘After the 475th meeting of the Board of Directors of your bank, the final minutes of the approval of the loan renewal proposal of the customer Infratech Construction Company Limited, the board department of the bank at 4:45 pm through e-mail to the CRM-1 of the bank. sent to the department.’

The central bank also said that the CRM-1 department sent the customer’s loan renewal approval letter to the bank’s Gulshan corporate branch through e-mail at 6:50 pm. It can be seen from the detailed information of the transaction related to withdrawal of money from the customer’s loan account, 22 crore 60 crore rupees were withdrawn through 5 transactions between 8:23 pm and 9:04 pm on December 28.

Bank officials have committed serious irregularities by completing cash transactions after 8 pm, which Bangladesh Bank considers a punishable offence.

In this context, the Central Bank has directed Infratech Construction Company Limited to provide an explanation as to how the overdraft facility was set up against the approved Tk 100 crore debenture limit. Apart from this, they have been asked to explain why disciplinary action will not be taken against the officials involved in withdrawing Tk 22.6 million from the account after 8 pm outside the office hours.

An official of Bangladesh Bank said that action will be taken against the people involved only after getting the explanation. The bank has been given many concessions in the past, such an opportunity will not be given again.