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THE shocking extent of financial crimes of the S Alam Group is evident in the recent disclosure of the amount of loans that the group has taken out from 10 banks and a non-bank financial institution. The Financial Intelligence Unit reveals that the group had taken a staggering Tk 2.25 lakh crore, or $16.6 billion, from these institutions. About 44 per cent, or Tk 97,486 crore, of the loans was taken out using shell companies and anonymously while Tk 92,676 crore was taken out in the group’s name and Tk 34,866 crore indirectly, as Financial Intelligence Unit data submitted to the Anti-Corruption Commission show. The group, which enjoyed political patronage of the toppled Awami League government and controlled at least eight banks, withdrew Tk 1.05 lakh crore from Islami Bank Bangladesh, Tk 45,636 crore from First Security Islami Bank, Tk 12,876 crore from Social Islami Bank, Tk 23,526 crore from Union Bank, Tk 13,250 crore from Global Islami Bank, Tk 995 crore from Bangladesh Commerce Bank, Tk 377 crore from Al-Arafah Islami Bank, Tk 2,346 crore from National Bank, Tk 6,346 crore from Exim Bank and Tk 12,332 crore from state-run Janata Bank and Tk 1,858 crore from Aviva Finance. Most of these banks are now in a serious crisis, struggling to pay back depositors. 

Much of the loans that group has taken out directly or anonymously has already begun to be classified as defaulted, sharply adding to the total amount of defaulted loans in the banking sector. The financial crimes of the S Alam Group, which the Bangladesh Bank governor terms ‘the largest bank heist in world history’, are largely responsible for the sorry state of the banking sector. A significant portion of the loans has already been laundered. The group’s owner Mohammad Saiful Alam is reported to have built a business empire in Singapore worth at least $1 billion although there is no record of him taking any Bangladesh Bank permission, legally required to invest or transfer funds abroad. The Anti-Corruption Commission is reported to be heading a joint team composed of members from the Criminal Investigation Department and the National Board of Revenue to investigate the group’s money laundering. Findings say that the group’s loan spree escalated after the 2018 elections, leveraging political connections and bypassing banking regulations. The group owner and his family also acquired Singaporean citizenship in 2021, renouncing Bangladeshi nationality. Such malpractice and violations of banking rules and regulations evident in the sanctions of loans to the group are impossible without the help of former board members, management officials of the banks and the central bank and the then government.

The interim government, the central bank and the agencies concerned must now exploit all ways to recover the loans. The authorities should also pursue international arbitration to recover the business group’s overseas assets. At the same time, the authorities must identify and prosecute the people who helped the group in its financial crimes and bring the beneficiaries of the crimes to justice.