Ex-minister Saifuzzaman, 24 others sued for Tk21cr UCB loan fraud, money laundering

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has filed a case against former land minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury and 24 others, including his wife, senior bank officials, and former United Commercial Bank (UCB) directors, over allegations of loan fraud and money laundering worth Tk21 crore. 

The case, filed by Sub-Assistant Director Md Rubel Hosen with the ACC's Integrated District Office, Dhaka-1, accuses the former minister of abusing political influence and bank connections to secure fraudulent loans in the name of a shell company linked to his family business group.

ACC Deputy Director Moshiur Rahman, team leader of the task-force investigating loan frauds of Saifuzzaman, confirmed the filing of the case.

According to the case statement, Aramit PLC junior officer Mohammad Misbahul Alam was falsely presented as the proprietor of a paper firm called Model Trading. In January 2018, a trade license was obtained under his name from Chattogram City Corporation. 

Soon after, a current account was opened at UCB's Karwan Bazar branch, allegedly without proper verification by branch officials. Within months, Model Trading applied for a Tk30 crore short-term loan, supported by alleged fabricated inspection reports and fake financial statements.

The loan file claimed the company held raw materials worth more than Tk84 crore in godowns across Chattogram and Sylhet — facilities investigators later found did not exist. 

Despite the discrepancies, UCB branch officials, led by then branch head Alamgir Kabir, endorsed the loan proposal. It was forwarded to the bank's head office, where the board of directors eventually approved financing of Tk21 crore.

Between 1 and 14 August 2018, the sanctioned funds were released in three instalments into Model Trading's account. Instead of being used for legitimate business, the money was withdrawn in cash, transferred between accounts, and allegedly diverted abroad.

When repayment deadlines arrived, a fresh Tk25 crore loan was arranged under another client's name to cover up the default — creating what investigators described as "a chain of fraudulent loans".

The ACC's inquiry concluded that much of the money was siphoned off to settle liabilities of Aramit subsidiaries and transferred into the personal accounts of Saifuzzaman. A portion of the funds was allegedly laundered overseas through layered transactions.

The case statement noted that the entire arrangement amounted to a coordinated scheme of forgery, misrepresentation, and money laundering involving both insiders at UCB and politically connected borrowers.

At the time of the alleged scam, Saifuzzaman's wife Rukmila Zman was serving as chairperson of UCB, while several of his relatives sat on the bank's board. The case also names former directors including Anisuzzaman Chowdhury, Akhtar Matin Chowdhury, MA Sabur, and Haji Abu Kalam.

This is the sixth case filed by ACC against Saifuzzaman, his wife and other UCB board of directors for loan fraud.