Ex land minister’s family accused of Tk 2.50 billion loan fraud using poor villagers’ identities

Haldyashia, a remote village in Baishari union under Naikhongchhari upazila of Bandarban, has around two thousand residents. The hill-encircled village is surrounded by rubber plantations. Most men are day laborers.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, several villagers — including Nurul Islam, Mohammad Ayub, and Faridul Alam — were approached with promises of financial and food aid and even jobs. The individuals collecting this “information” took away their national identity (NID) cards. About a month later, these villagers were taken to a shop near the Patiya Sub-Registry Office in Chattogram, where they were given Tk 20,000–30,000 and made to sign and fingerprint English-language documents they couldn’t read.

Starting in 2023, they began receiving loan repayment notices from United Commercial Bank (UCB) — and only then did they realise they had been trapped. Twenty-two men and women from Baishari, Eidgarh, and Gorjonia unions have received such notices. All are impoverished, landless day laborers.

From 2023 through May 2024, they received letters demanding loan repayments totaling over Tk 2.5 billion (250 crore), allegedly disbursed by UCB’s Pahartali, Chawkbazar, and Port branches in Chattogram.
Investigations suggest that the family of former land minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury was behind this loan fraudulence. During the now-ousted Awami League government, members of this family allegedly opened numerous shell companies to siphon money from banks in the guise of loans, amassing assets abroad. Some of their overseas properties — including in the United Kingdom — have already been seized.

Mizanur Rahman from Eidgarh in Ramu upazila and Nurul Bashar from Baishari in Naikhongchhari were tasked with collecting NID cards from the poor. They roamed remote hill villages gathering IDs, but eventually fell into the same trap themselves.

Mizanur Rahman received a UCB loan notice demanding Tk 90 million (9 crore), while Nurul Bashar’s notice listed Tk 130 million (13 crore).

Mizanur said one Abul Kalam, from Panisyaghona in Eidgarh, had arranged all this, promising jobs and aid. Abul Kalam is Nurul Bashar’s brother-in-law. Acting on his instructions, the two met three men in Patiya — Mostafizur Rahman, Md Shahjahan, and Nurul Anwar — and signed documents. They later learned that these men were allegedly working on behalf of the ex-land minister’s family and were locally known as “brokers.”

Repeated attempts to reach the accused — Mostafizur, Shahjahan, and Nurul Anwar — were unsuccessful; their phones were switched off. Locals said they went into hiding after the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) launched investigations against the former minister.

Baishari Union Parishad chairman Mohammad Alam told Prothom Alo that these victims are landless day laborers. They’ve been coming to the union office in tears, seeking protection.

In Haldyashia village stands a flimsy tin-roofed shack belonging to day laborer Mohammad Ayub. He lives there with his wife, two daughters (aged one and half and 10), and a son.

UCB has issued Ayub a loan repayment notice for Tk 61.2 million (6 crore 12 lakh).

When Prothom Alo visited his home recently, Ayub was doing household chores in his yard. Asked about the loan, he said, “I can’t sleep at night. I’ve never seen even Tk 1 lakh (Tk 100,000) in my life. How could I possibly have taken Tk 6 crore from a bank?”

He said he would need several days just to arrange bus fare to Chattogram — 145 kilometers away — and was shocked to learn that a bank account had been opened there in his name. Some locals, he recalled, had collected his NID card claiming they’d help him get aid or a job.

He added that he never even set foot inside a UCB branch.

On 25 July, three UCB officials visited Haldyashia. Ayub said they spoke with several victims and inquired about their assets. “They told us to go to Chattogram and update our bank accounts,” he said.

“We don’t even have the fare to go to Chattogram. We don’t know what account they’re talking about — yet they say we have to repay the loan.”
Another day laborer, Md Faridul Alam, supports his wife and four children by building bamboo fences for others. Yet UCB’s Port Branch sent him a notice demanding repayment of Tk 108.2 million (10 crore 82 lakh), claiming he owned ‘Unique Enterprise’ on Jubilee Road, Chattogram.

The notice, dated 24 September, 2024, was signed by then branch manager Md Arif Hossain.

When asked about “Unique Enterprise,” Faridul laughed, unable even to pronounce the name properly, “Yes, I heard I’m supposed to be some kind of owner. I don’t even have a bank account in Chattogram.”

A few kilometers away, in East Rajghat village under Eidgarh Union of Ramu upazila, lives another day laborer, Nurul Islam, with his wife Maymuna Akter and three children.

Several months ago, both received loan notices from UCB’s Chawkbazar branch. Reading them with the help of educated locals, they discovered that Nurul Islam allegedly owed Tk 65 million (6 crore 50 lakh) — now swollen to Tk 85.5 million (8 crore 55 lakh) with interest.

Maymuna’s notice showed a similar amount. Together, the couple were held liable for Tk 130 million (13 crore), now Tk 171 million (17 crore 10 lakh) with interest.

The notice claimed Nurul Islam was the proprietor of ‘Islam Traders’ in Chattogram and owned plots in Patiya.

Their neighbor Md Jahir Uddin, also a day laborer, and his wife Umme Salma received a notice for Tk 75 million (7 crore 50 lakh), The notice claimed Jahir owns a business firm called ‘Jahir International.’

Jahir said, “I feed my family by working as a day laborer. Where would I get a business like that?”

During the tenure of the ousted Awami League government, UCB Bank was effectively under the control of former land minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury’s family. His wife Rukhmila Zaman served as the bank’s chairman, while his brother Anisuzzaman Chowdhury Rony headed its executive committee. Under their direction, loans were approved under fake or proxy companies, aided by complicit bank officials.

After the change of government, members of the Chowdhury family — along with those bank officials — went into hiding.

A UCB official close to the family told Prothom Alo Saifuzzaman Chowdhury and his father Akhtaruzzaman Chowdhury were long-time MPs from Anwara, Karnaphuli, and Patiya areas. They used people from those areas to pull money out of the bank. The NID collectors were all from Patiya.

When asked about the embezzlement of Tk 2.5 billion (250 crore) in loans using the identities of 22 poor villagers, UCB’s Chief Communications Officer, Zeeshan Kingshuk Haque, told Prothom Alo, “These irregularities and corruption occurred under the previous board of directors. We have taken legal action. Even if the poor or day laborers received a portion of the money, they will still be considered complicit. The law will take its own course.”