AB Bank Chairman M Wahidul Haque, its Vice Chairman Salim Ahmed and Director Faheemul Huq have resigned from their positions in the bank.
According to the sources concerned, their resignations were disclosed at the bank’s annual general meeting (AGM) at a city hotel on Thursday, reports UNB.
Earlier in the day, they submitted their resignation letters to the board of directors of the bank at the meeting, said an official at the bank on condition of anonymity.
Their resignation letters were accepted at the AGM, he said.
According to a Bangladesh Bank probe report conducted in October last, the AB Bank's board of directors in December 2013 approved the investment of $20 million in Singapore-based fundraising and investment company Pinnacle Global Fund Pte Ltd (PGF) through the bank's Offshore Banking Unit (OBU).
In February 2014, the OBU allegedly laundered the money to an account at the UAE-based Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB).
The account belonged to Cheng Bao General Trading LLC which acted as a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) or a mediator for the PGF. Cheng Bao immediately withdrew the money and closed the account.
It could not be known where the money went after the withdrawal, as the AB Bank has failed to give the central bank any substantial documents on Cheng Bao and the PGF, according to reports published in different media.
AB Bank Chairman M Wahidul Haque, two ex-managing directors M Fazlur Rahman and Shamim Ahmed Chaudhury, and its former head of financial institutions and treasury Abu Hena Mustafa Kamal were directly involved in the money laundering, said a media report referring to the central bank's investigation report.
The central bank sent the report to the Anti-Corruption Commission on November 15.
