Matiur Rahman removed from NBR

Matiur Rahman, president of the Customs, Excise and VAT Appellate Tribunal under the National Board of Revenue has been removed from his post. He was attached to the Internal Resources Division on Sunday.

He is not attending the meeting of the governing body of the bank which started at 11:00 am Sunday either. Ziaul Hasan Sidduque, panel chairman of the bank, is presiding over the meeting today.

Ahead of Eid-ul-Azha, a video of his son buying a goat at Tk 1.5 million from Sadik Agro in the capital’s Mohammadpur area went viral on social media. The netizens also found that he purchased cows worth Tk 7 million from different farms in the capital.

Since then, Matiur Rahman's son’s luxurious lifestyle, including expensive brand watches and cars,  properties he owned, including resorts, shooting houses, bungalow houses and lands he and his family members became the talk of the country.

Matiur is also the director of the Sonali Bank. The Financial Institutions Department recommended his appointment as the director of Sonali Bank for three years on 1 February 2022. Sheikh Mohammad Salim Ullah was the secretary of the Financial Institutions Department at that time, who retired last month after not being reappointed.

Sources said Sheikh Mohammad Selim Ullah didn’t want to appoint him as the director of the Sonali Bank as he was aware of Maiur’s nature from before. However, he could not refuse the recommendation from the then finance secretary Abdur Rauf.

This correspondent tried to reach the then finance secretary and incumbent governor of the Bangladesh Bank Abdur Rauf through WhatsApp messages, but he didn’t respond. Even Sheikh Mohammad Salim Ullah didn’t respond either.

Following the recommendations from the Financial Institutions Division, the Sonali Bank governing body didn’t raise further questions regarding his appointment. The Bangladesh Bank also approved the appointment without any hassle.

However, as stories of Matiur’s enormous assets achieved through illegal means started surfacing in recent times, the other board directors objected. They said they don’t want Matiur Rahman in the board of directors’ meeting anymore.

This correspondent tried Matiur Rahman over the phone thrice this morning for his comment in this regard. However, he didn’t receive the call.

The bank sources said, after being appointed as the director, he always tried to intervene in the proposals for big loans. However, he eventually failed due to the bold role played by the other members