About Tk 30 crore belonging to 315 customers is alleged to have been embezzled at Agrani Bank’s Sreenagar branch in Munshiganj. The affected customers formed human chains in front of the head offices of Agrani Bank and Bangladesh Bank, demanding their deposits back. They also called for an independent inquiry committee to be formed urgently, legal action against those responsible, and effective steps to return the money.
The customers made the demands at a protest outside Bangladesh Bank’s head office on Sunday. Jafrin Alam Rakhi, convener of the affected customers’ unity council, presented seven demands.
Jafrin Alam Rakhi said they had deposited money at the Sreenagar branch following the proper rules. But when they now try to withdraw it, the bank tells them they have no account there in their names. The fraud has been reported to the bank’s head office as well, she said. “We have one demand: the money we deposited must be returned quickly.”
The affected customers of the Sreenagar branch have also written to Agrani Bank’s managing director.
Their letter says that because of the financial irregularities and fraud at the branch, many customers have lost their hard-earned savings and face severe hardship and uncertainty. Many had deposited their life savings, retirement money and business capital. Without their deposits, they and their families are living in miserable conditions, and the case has caused deep despair among customers and a crisis of trust in the banking system.
The letter adds that as a state-owned commercial bank, Agrani Bank depends on the public’s trust. Customers deposited their money because they trusted the bank, so it must make sure depositors are not deprived of what they are owed because of fraud at the branch.
The seven demands include a high-level independent inquiry into the fraud and irregularities at the Sreenagar branch to establish what happened and identify those responsible; an accurate list of affected customers’ deposits and losses, checked transparently; and effective, time-bound steps to return valid, proven deposits as quickly as possible.
They also demanded exemplary punishment and legal action, under the law and banking rules, against any person or firm involved in the embezzlement and fraud. They asked to be told in writing about the progress of the inquiry, the refund process and the likely timeline, and for a special cell under the head office to speed up receiving complaints, checking documents and returning money.
Bangladesh Bank Executive Director and spokesperson Arif Hossain Khan said a bank has two kinds of customers, depositors and borrowers. Anyone who deposits money is entitled to get it back under the rules, and anyone who opened an account and deposited money in it will get that money back. But if a customer left money with a banker on the strength of a personal relationship, the bank is not liable, he said. If a customer has proper proof of the deposit, the bank is bound to return it.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report