BASIC Bank scam: Promoted as secretary despite default, arrest warrant

Khairul Islam, a high-ranking government official, had defaulted on his loans taken from the BASIC Bank more than a decade ago. His professional career could have been in danger due to the default status and subsequent arrest warrant against him.

But the reality is in stark contrast. He has been awarded with back-to-back promotions. Khairul Islam was a deputy secretary while receiving the loans in 2010. In the following years, he was successively promoted to joint secretary, additional secretary and finally, to secretary on 2 July this year. 

He is now attached to the public administration ministry as an officer on special duty (OSD). 

Despite the promotions, Khairul Islam failed to settle the debts. His outstanding loans to the bank has now reached Tk 90 million, rising from the primary loan amount of Tk 40 million. 

The BASIC Bank resorted to the law to realise the loan money and filed a case against him in the Dhaka district and sessions judge court on 13 November last year. The court later issued an arrest warrant against him, but he secured bail from the court in April this year. 

The bank is now preparing to file another case against him in the financial loan court. As part of the process, Khairul Islam was served with multiple notices, but he did not respond to any of the notices of the bank.

This information was obtained from sources at the financial institutions division, commercial audit directorate, BASIC Bank headquarters, and some other branches.  

However, the managing director (MD) of BASIC Bank, Anisur Rahman, claimed that Khairul Islam visited the bank recently. In a conversation with Prothom Alo on Thursday, the MD said, “We have taken and are taking necessary measures to realise the dues from him.”

Sheikh Abdul Hye Bacchu, former chairman of BASIC Bank, is the mastermind behind the financial scam in the bank. The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has recently charged him in 56 cases.  

The commercial audit directorate has revealed that the former chairman played a direct role in facilitating Khairul Islam's loan approval. The loan application was submitted 11 months after Sheikh Abdul Hye assumed the position in September, 2009. 

According to the BASIC Bank headquarters, Khairul Islam, who was then an assistant private secretary to the prime minister, applied for a Tk 40 million loan in the names of his two minor children from the Kawran Bazar branch. The home loan application was approved in the 276th board meeting of the bank on 19 August, 2010, with merely personal guarantee from Khairul Islam. 

According to the bank's loan policy, no loans can be granted without collateral. The bank's lawyer also said there is no way for the bank to enter into a mortgage agreement with minor children. Against such a backdrop, the loan disbursal was suspended. 

Later, the proposal was placed in a different form before the board of directors in its 281st meeting on 11 December of the year. The application for an unsecured home construction loan in the children's names was transferred to the name of Khairul Islam as an ''any purpose loan". 

However, the BASIC Bank never had any loan product as "any purpose loan".

After the latest promotion on 2 July, Khairul Islam is scheduled to go on a post-retirement leave (PRL) on 15 July. 

Asked about his failure to repay the loans on Thursday, Khairul Islam provided conflicting statements. Initially, he denied taking a loan and claimed to have acted only as a guarantor. When questioned about the borrower’s identity, he replied, “Family members.” 

In the face of further queries, Khairul Islam said there was a plan to purchase a flat from a housing company named Kasba Housing, but it did not happen eventually. He also mentioned that he suffered losses from his investment in the capital market. 

He, however, admitted to having secured bail in a case. 

Khairul Islam, a BCS audit and accounts cadre officer, joined the civil service in 1995 as an assistant accountant general. During the first term of the Awami League government, he served as the prime minister's APS for a short term until 15 July, 2012. 

Since then, he has been promoted on a regular basis, culminating in his appointment as secretary and subsequent attachment to the public administration ministry on 2 July. 

In response to queries regarding Khairul Islam's promotion despite being a loan defaulter, public administration secretary Mohammad Mezbah Uddin Chowdhury ruled out any deviation in rules in the promotion process. 

“Promotions are offered based on previous experience and qualifications. The same happened to him (Khairul Islam). Besides, we do not preserve any information related to the banks,” he added. 

Khairul Islam is kniwn as a leader of the secretariat officers-employees council. He received a reception from the Bangladesh Government Employees National Council on Monday for his latest promotion. 

AKM Abdul Awal Majumder, former rector of Bangladesh Public Administration Training Centre (BPATC), said some people face consequences for minor offences while some others face no action even for serious wrongdoings.

He said if the BASIC Bank incident had involved anyone other than Khairul Islam, they would have been arrested and jailed rather than being promoted.

In the Basic Bank scam, some businessmen and bankers were imprisoned, including Faizun Nabi Chowdhury, managing director of Farsi International; Akbar Hossain, owner of Asian Shipping; Fajlus Sobhan and Md Salim, deputy managing directors of the bank; and some others. However, they were later granted bail by the High Court.