The management at National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) concealed the reports received from Bangladesh regarding the Rs18.5 billion scam, according to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Thursday.
While briefing the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance on the Rs18.5 billion scam in NBP Bangladesh operations, Abdul Hafeez Khan, director operations of NAB headquarters, said the fraud was not possible without the involvement of NBP officials posted in the head office.
He said that from 2001 to 2013, the NBP Bangladesh branch gave loans valuing $185 million without securing collaterals and, in certain cases, the branch released securities without recovering the loans. Khan disclosed that the NBP management concealed the reports, which it received from Bangladesh.
On Tuesday, NAB authorised investigations into the conduct of some officers of NBP who were accused of abusing their powers in the processing and sanctioning of credit limits, wilfully avoiding proper valuation of securities offered by borrowers and causing losses of $185 million to the national exchequer.
The director said that in the next few months, NAB would file a reference in an accountability court but said there were certain complications, including prosecution of six Bangladeshi nationals.
The disclosure has once again thrown light on the former and incumbent top guns of the NBP. Some of them are now heading three commercial banks and one is serving in a top position in the central bank.
“It was a fraud on a national scale but no one is ready to take action against bank executives,” said visibly perturbed Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh of Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N), Chairman of the NA standing committee.
Mian Abdul Manan of PML-N wondered how the head of NBP risk management division was made the president of First Women Bank by the government when she was directly involved in this case.
State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Ashraf Wathra was head of credit at NBP from October 2012 to March 2013. The incumbent NBP president, Syed Iqbal Ashraf, also served in a senior position for some time when the Bangladesh fraud was unfolding.
The scam was first reported in January 2014, at that time, the misappropriation was estimated at around Rs11 billion, which later swelled to Rs18.5 billion. In its forensic audit, KPMG found that “61 delinquent employees” were prima facie involved in the scam.
Now, the NAB has narrowed down the list to under a dozen but sources said few top-level names will be added at a later stage.
