The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday launched an investigation into allegations of stock market anomalies by Salman F Rahman, private industries and investment affairs advisor to the deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina, and controversial businessman Saiful Alam, also known as S Alam.
The commission formed a three-member committee, led by BSEC additional director Mohammad Abul Hasan, to investigate the allegations.
The BSEC, responding to a recommendation of the ACC, had earlier frozen the beneficiary owners鈥� (BO)聽 accounts of Salman and S Alam.
The BSEC鈥檚 investigation will focus on determining whether their activities contributed to any irregularities in the capital market.
The committee has also been tasked with examining the financial dealings of their family members and businesses under their control, with a report expected within 60 days.
Islami Bank Bangladesh PLC chairman Md Obayed Ullah Al Masud has recently stated that S Alam Group withdrew more than Tk 90,000 crore from the bank, accounting for over 50 per cent of its total loan disbursements.
S Alam Group reportedly gained control of Islami Bank in 2017 with backing from the then Awami League-led government, and allegedly
withdrew around Tk 2 lakh crore from the banking sector.
The BSEC order also referenced media reports indicating that Salman F Rahman had been a loan defaulter since the 1980s and was involved in the 1996 stock market crash.
He was later cleared of his defaulter status through special concessions to his companies.
聽The Anti-Corruption Commission is now investigating both Salman and S Alam for accumulating illegal wealth.
