Mohammed Saiful Alam, chairman and founder of S Alam Group, has claimed protection under his Singapore citizenship from what he described as a 鈥榗ampaign of intimidation鈥� led by Bangladesh Bank governor Ahsan H Mansur against his business conglomerate, according to a report published by the Financial Times on Monday.
In a letter issued by law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan on behalf of Saiful and his family, they warned governor Mansur of potential international arbitration proceedings against Bangladesh.
This development follows Mansur鈥檚 allegations, published in an interview with British daily Financial Times, that Saiful and associates withdrew at least Tk 1.2 trillion ($10 billion) from Bangladeshi banks during the tenure of now deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
According to the Financial Times report, the letter accuses Mansur of making 鈥榠nflammatory and unsubstantiated public comments鈥� amounting to a 鈥榗ampaign of intimidation against the business group鈥� that it said employs about 2,00,000 people directly and indirectly in Bangladesh.
The letter and Saiful鈥檚 threat to initiate international arbitration mark his most serious opposition to the Bangladesh鈥檚 interim government, led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, which came to power after a student-led mass uprising toppling Sheikh Hasina on August 5.
Mansur, a former International Monetary Fund official who was appointed Bangladesh Bank governor in August, told the British daily last month that Saiful and his cronies had siphoned off money out of the banking sector after taking over the top banks with the help of the members of a powerful military intelligence agency.
Mansur alleged that Saiful, his associates and other groups employed machinations, including loans issued to the banks鈥� new shareholders, and inflating import invoices, to carry out the 鈥榖iggest, highest robbing of banks by any international standards鈥�.
S Alam Group, which has interests in sectors including food, construction, garments, and banking, rejected Mansur鈥檚 allegations last month, saying in a statement through Quinn Emanuel that there was 鈥榥o truth鈥� in them.
The letter to Mansur鈥攕ent on behalf of Saiful Alam, his wife Farzana Parveen and his sons Ashraful Alam and Asadul Alam Mahir, who are said to jointly own and control the 鈥榤ajor part鈥� of the S Alam Group, described the allegations as 鈥榙eliberately false鈥� and slanderous鈥�.
鈥榊our statements only further the aims of an apparent campaign designed to destroy the S Alam Group, and therefore also the investors鈥� investments,鈥� it said. 鈥業t鈥檚 remarkable that you seem to be running this campaign, if not organising it.鈥�
The letter also mentioned that all the four investors were Singapore citizens.
A spokesperson for Quinn Emanuel did not respond to the Financial Time鈥檚 request for comment on when Saiful Alam鈥檚 family had acquired Singaporean citizenship and whether they remained Bangladeshi citizens as well. The government of Singapore did not respond to a request for comment.
Bangladesh and Singapore have a bilateral investment protection treaty dating from 2004.
The letter also cited Bangladesh鈥檚 bilateral investment treaty with Singapore and Bangladesh鈥檚 Foreign Private Investment Act of 1980 as grounds for protecting the rights of S Alam Group鈥檚 investors.
It warned Mansur that any continuation of his alleged campaign could result in legal actions, including arbitration through the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes.
The letter said that if the central bank governor continued to 鈥榚ncroach on their rights鈥� by making 鈥榝alse statements鈥�, they and S Alam Group would 鈥榟ave no choice but to take legal action鈥� against Mansur individually for the 鈥榙amage you have inflicted鈥�.
Mansur told the British daily that the claims he made in the interview were 鈥榝ully substantiated鈥� when asked for a response to the letter.
鈥楾hey are still being documented because the range of corrupt activities is widespread across many banks and over many years. The full documentation will take some time,鈥� he added.
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