Cenbank appoints new director at Uttara Finance
Highlights
- SM Shamsul Arefin, Uttara Finance's former MD, was removed from the company because of;
- Embezzling money from the company
- Helping others to embezzle
- Hiding information in financial reports
- CA firm Rahman Rahman Huq (KPMG) found various anomalies
Bangladesh Bank has appointed Babul Chandra Debnath, who is a deputy general manager at the Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB), as a director on the board of the scam-hit Uttara Finance and Investment Limited.
This April, the central bank appointed Mohammad Ali as another director on the company's board.
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In December 2022, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission appointed 12 independent directors as per the central bank's directives.
The 12 independent directors are: Economist Dr Syed Ferhat Anwar, who has been proposed as chairman of Uttara Finance; Professor Dr Hafiz Md Hasan Babu of Digital Banking; Major General Mohammad Maksudur Rahman of Administration and Governance; Mahfuzul Hoque from Accounting; Chartered Accountant (CA) Md Mahamud Hosain; Economist Mahbub Uz Zaman; CA and Financial Specialist Mohammad Salahuddin Chowdhury; Cost and Management Accountant Mohammad Moniruzzaman; Kawsar Ahmed from Business Law; Associate Professor Mohammad Ariful Islam of Banking Department; Journalist Monjurul Ahsan Bulbul; and Dr Md Moinur Rahman Chowdhury from Law Enforcing Agency.
But Md Moinur Rahman Chowdhury, in this June, resigned from the board and the board of directors accepted his resignation, the company said.
On 23 June 2022, the Bangladesh Bank removed Uttara Finance's Managing Director SM Shamsul Arefin for embezzling money from the company, helping others to embezzle, and for hiding information in financial reports.
These irregularities against him were first detected in the inspection of Bangladesh Bank, and later in the report of the audit firm Rahman Rahman Huq (KPMG).
According to the letter issued by Bangladesh Bank regarding the removal of Shamsul Arefin, the CA firm Rahman Rahman Huq (KPMG), which was appointed to carry out a special audit on Uttara Finance under Section 20(3) of the Financial Institutions Act 1993, found massive financial anomalies in the company.
Uttara Finance had been advised to take legal action against Shamsul Arefin as he was involved in various malfeasance.
Uttara Finance and Investment was listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange in 1997. Its share price is stuck on the floor at Tk33.8.
