Mazumder, Sarafat’s bank accounts to be frozen

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DHAKA: The Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) yesterday asked banks to freeze the accounts of Nazrul Islam Mazumder, the chairman of Exim Bank and Nassa Group, and Chowdhury Nafeez Sarafat, former chairman of Padma Bank, and their family members.

In separate letters, the anti-money laundering agency instructed the lenders to keep the accounts frozen for the next 30 days in the first phase. The intelligence unit also instructed the banks to suspend their locker facilities.

Sarafat and Mazumder, also the chairman of the private bank owners’ forum Bangladesh Association of Banks (BAB) since 2008, are the owners of the Bangla daily Dainik Bangla.

Both men are big beneficiaries of the Awami League government of the past 15 years.

Mazumder leveraged his position as the BAB chairman to change critical policies for the banking sector such that it favoured his businesses as well as take loans bypassing rules and regulations, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

For instance, at the 654th board meeting of Janata Bank in 2021, a Tk 261 crore interest waiver facility was approved for two concerns of Mazumder’s Nassa Group: Nassa Taipei Spinners and Nassa Spinners.

The central bank initially rejected the facility as Janata approved the waiver violating banking norms but later walked back on the decision.

To ensure his access to the power centre, he would collect funds from banks and personally hand the cheque over to the former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, he said.

Sarafat, who hails from Gopalganj like Hasina, exerted his influence to get a host of facilities for the cash-strapped Padma Bank and get a licence for a non-bank financial institution in a crowded sector.

The Anti-Corruption Commission recently started investigating Sarafat over allegations of seizing the Padma bank and embezzling Tk 800 crore from the stock market.