The finance ministry has rejected an application for soft loans of Tk
1,000 crore of Jubo Karmasangsthan Society to repay the liabilities of
its members, a top official of the ministry said.
Jubok sent the letter to the finance minister on October 2.
“We are not considering Jubok’s demand. They (Jubok) send letters to us quite often,” M Aslam Alam, secretary of Bank and Financial Institutions Division, told The Daily Star on Thursday.
Rather, the ministry has been working on the outcome and recommendations of the report on Jubok, which a permanent commission formed to probe into the firm’s irregularities has recently submitted, he said.
Jubok’s operations were suspended and bank accounts frozen in 2006, on charges of illegal banking.
Jubok took deposits worth around Tk 3,000 crore from thousands of its members offering hefty returns.
Jubok had set up over a dozen subsidiaries, including telecommunication, real estate development, tourism, private universities, health and agriculture.
It also bought shares of IFIC Bank and RTV.
The government in 2010 formed an inquiry commission on Jubok, headed by Mohammad Farash Uddin Ahmed, former governor of the Bangladesh Bank.
The commission suggested the government establish a permanent commission to help Jubok members get their deposits back.
Accordingly, the government in May 2011 formed a permanent commission headed by Rafiqul Islam, a former joint secretary, to probe into the Jubok irregularities and suggest how to recover the members’ lost money.
The commission, after two years of inquiry, submitted the report to the finance ministry in May this year. The commission suggested suing the Jubok masterminds.
“We have the nod of the finance minister to go ahead with the commission’s recommendations and accordingly have requested the Anti-Corruption Commission to take action against the culprits,” Alam said.
He said the finance ministry has also sought the law ministry’s vetting on whether it can return Jubok members’ money by selling its properties.
As per the commission findings, Jubok owes over Tk 2,500 crore to its three lakh members, but the firm has less than Tk 1 crore in its accounts in different banks.
The commission did not audit the total assets of Jubok as those were not in the term of reference.
Hossain Al Masum, executive director of Jubok, however, claimed that they have paid liabilities of 225,000 members worth Tk 700 crore. Of which, Tk 200 crore was paid in cash and the remaining amount was cleared in return for plots and lands.
“We have sought Tk 1,000 crore soft loans from the government to return all liabilities of our members by next year. The government can take mortgage of our assets across the country against the loans,” Masum said.
Jubok sent the letter to the finance minister on October 2.
“We are not considering Jubok’s demand. They (Jubok) send letters to us quite often,” M Aslam Alam, secretary of Bank and Financial Institutions Division, told The Daily Star on Thursday.
Rather, the ministry has been working on the outcome and recommendations of the report on Jubok, which a permanent commission formed to probe into the firm’s irregularities has recently submitted, he said.
Jubok’s operations were suspended and bank accounts frozen in 2006, on charges of illegal banking.
Jubok took deposits worth around Tk 3,000 crore from thousands of its members offering hefty returns.
Jubok had set up over a dozen subsidiaries, including telecommunication, real estate development, tourism, private universities, health and agriculture.
It also bought shares of IFIC Bank and RTV.
The government in 2010 formed an inquiry commission on Jubok, headed by Mohammad Farash Uddin Ahmed, former governor of the Bangladesh Bank.
The commission suggested the government establish a permanent commission to help Jubok members get their deposits back.
Accordingly, the government in May 2011 formed a permanent commission headed by Rafiqul Islam, a former joint secretary, to probe into the Jubok irregularities and suggest how to recover the members’ lost money.
The commission, after two years of inquiry, submitted the report to the finance ministry in May this year. The commission suggested suing the Jubok masterminds.
“We have the nod of the finance minister to go ahead with the commission’s recommendations and accordingly have requested the Anti-Corruption Commission to take action against the culprits,” Alam said.
He said the finance ministry has also sought the law ministry’s vetting on whether it can return Jubok members’ money by selling its properties.
As per the commission findings, Jubok owes over Tk 2,500 crore to its three lakh members, but the firm has less than Tk 1 crore in its accounts in different banks.
The commission did not audit the total assets of Jubok as those were not in the term of reference.
Hossain Al Masum, executive director of Jubok, however, claimed that they have paid liabilities of 225,000 members worth Tk 700 crore. Of which, Tk 200 crore was paid in cash and the remaining amount was cleared in return for plots and lands.
“We have sought Tk 1,000 crore soft loans from the government to return all liabilities of our members by next year. The government can take mortgage of our assets across the country against the loans,” Masum said.
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