'Gold' Anwar's treasury Rupali Bank!

A young gold trader from Feni has managed to borrow Tk 1.51 billion from state-owned Rupali Bank without submitting requied documents, according to stakeholders.

The bank itself has violated the rules in providing the huge amount of loan to Anwar Hossain, they said.

Of the entire loan amount, Tk 600 million was disbursed following approval by the board of directors of the bank, show the banking records.

Another Tk 730 million was given without any approval and no evidence of this money is available now.

The 33-year-old businessman, Anwar Hossain, who owns two jewellery shops in Feni town, is now being called ‘Gold Anwar’ in the locality for making his fortune so quickly.

He, however, prefers introducing him as Anwar Chowdhury.

Former Bangladesh Bank governor Salehuddin Ahmed wondered how Anwar drew such a big amount of loan from Rupali Bank, terming the process unthinkable.

"This kind of thing can in no way be done singlehandedly. The authorities, from top to bottom, must be involved in the process," he said.

Even Anwar himself admitted that the procedures he followed for taking the loans were not proper.

At one stage of conversation on 21 November, Anwar told Prothom Alo that “It’s true that I drew the loan through certain unfair means.”

He claimed that he would repay all his loans and has already started doing that.

Rupali Bank authorities said they have so far recovered Tk 500 million from Anwar.

According to the bank's documents, Anwar started getting loans illegally from the bank in 2014. The country's banking sector was already plagued by a few major scams such as the Hall-Mark and BASIC Bank loan forgery incidents.

Documents suggest Anwar took the loan to invest in his jewellery shops. But, he bought properties with the money. He now owns 1,500 decimals of land in Feni.

When Anwar was given the loan, M Farid Uddin had been the managing director of Rupali Bank while Kazi Md Neyamat Ullah was the deputy managing director.

Neyamat Ullah, hailing from Feni, has allegedly had a relationship with Anwar over sales and purchase of lands.

Talking about the loan, former Rupali Bank managing director M Farid Uddin told the Prothom Alo, “The board of directors approved the loan as it came from the branch office through the Comilla general manager.”

“However, it cannot be denied that the client (Anwar) got 'extra care', thanks to Neyamat Ullah,” he admitted.

Anwar applied for the loan at a small branch of Rupali Bank in Feni on Shaheed Shahidullah Kaiser road. The 1,400 square feet branch, known as Islampur Road branch, has only five large borrowers who have Tk 1.52 billion loans altogether.

Of the Tk 1.52 billion, Anwar’s loan is Tk 1.51 billion.

Chairman of Rupali Bank board of directors Monzur Hossain told Prothom Alo on Sunday, “The management presented a loan proposal before the board after scrutiny. We had no other way to know about the loan other than the proposal itself.”

Member of Rupali Bank board of directors and also Brahmanbaria district Awami League leader Zakir Ahammad told the Prothom Alo on Saturday, “The way the management presented the proposal, it seemed to the board that the proposal should get Tk 5 billion. But we approved Tk 0.6 billion after scrutiny.”

Anwar drew Tk 0.6 billion in the name of his shop Desh Jewelers which was launched on 14 April and the loan was sanctioned on 24 March showing three years’ business documents that were all fake.

Former Islampur Road branch manager Ershad Ullah, who has been suspended, said, “I distributed the money without approval as I was directed by Kazi Mahibur Rahman and Md Solaiman of the zonal office.”

“I was a manager of a small branch. I was not so powerful. The loan was given as per top officials’ wish and there was some political influence involved, as well,” he added.

Current Islampur Road branch manager Gopalchandra Nath told Prothom Alo, “No document of the loan which was delivered without scrutiny could be found in the branch.”

Refuting his relation with Anwar, deputy managing director Neyamat Ullah said he knew the client but had no relationship with him.

On this, Anwar said, “I am not a thief or robber or someone like this. I am a businessman. It is true that I bought plots of Neyamat Ullah’s brother.”

Current Rupali Bank managing director Ataur Rahman told Prothom Alo that they have suspended two officials over the incident and an investigation is now going on.

Bangladesh Bank spokesperson Suvankar Saha said, “We have heard about the incident. The bank is trying to realise the money now.”

The report originally published in Bangla in Prothom Alo print edition is rewritten in English by Imam Hossain