Mohammad Saiful Alam, founder and chairman of Bangladesh's leading business group S Alam, has claimed that Singapore citizenship and an international investment agreement will protect his business from pressure and intimidation created by Bangladesh Bank. Lawyers for Saiful Alam and his family have warned Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H. Mansur in a letter. The warning stated that if their business is unfairly harmed, they will file a case in the International Court of Arbitration.
This information was given in a report by the British newspaper Financial Times on Tuesday (November 19).
Earlier, in an interview with the Financial Times, Governor Ahsan H. Mansur alleged that Saiful Alam and his associates 'looted' at least 1.2 trillion or 10 billion taka from Bangladesh Bank during the rule of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Following such allegations, US-based law firm Queen Emmanuel Urquhart & Sullivan has issued a warning letter on behalf of S. Alam in the letter. The letter said that the governor had made "provocative and baseless comments" that could damage the reputation of a business group. The letter also said that this business group directly and indirectly provided employment to about 200,000 people in Bangladesh.
The Financial Times report said that Saiful Alam's letter and the threat to initiate international arbitration proceedings are seen as the most serious reaction against the interim government of Bangladesh. After the fall of Sheikh Hasina in the student movement, the government came to power under the leadership of Nobel laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus.
Then, in August, Ahsan H. Mansur was appointed as the governor of Bangladesh Bank. He is a former IMF official. In an interview last month, he said that Saiful Alam and his associates laundered money by taking control of the country's banks with the help of members of the influential military intelligence agency. He alleged that they used tactics such as loans to new shareholders and overpriced import invoices to rob the bank.
The S. Alam Group operates in various sectors including food, construction, garment factories and banking. The group’s chairman, Saiful Alam, his wife Farzana Parveen and their sons Ashraful Alam and Asadul Alam Mahir, own and control a large part of the group. The industrial group, in a statement issued through law firm Queen Emmanuel last month, rejected the governor’s allegations. The statement said that there is “no truth” to the allegations.
The latest letter to the governor said that your statements are a planned campaign to destroy the S. Alam Group. As a result, the investments of investors in S. Alam are also being damaged. It is particularly noteworthy that you are leading or directing this campaign.
The letter also said that the four investors are Singapore citizens. However, there is no information in the letter about when Saiful Alam’s family obtained Singapore citizenship and whether they are still citizens of Bangladesh. The Singapore government also did not respond to a request for comment. Bangladesh and Singapore have had a bilateral investment protection agreement since 2004.
The letter stated that Ahsan Mansur’s statement was on behalf of the Bangladeshi state. It said that as Singaporean citizens, investors enjoy ‘rights and protections’ under the Bangladesh Foreign Private Investment Act of 1980. They will take all necessary steps to protect their rights, including but not limited to seeking dispute resolution through the International Arbitration Centre.
When asked for a response to the letter, Ahsan H Mansur told the Financial Times that the claims he made in the interview with the Financial Times were ‘fully substantiated’. He said that the allegations involved many banks and years of widespread corruption. The documentation of these is still ongoing. It will take some time to process the full documents.
The interim government led by Dr. Yunus is facing many problems. These include political unrest, cancellation of orders in the garment industry and India's critical stance against the government where the threat of going to the international arbitration court is going to be added as a new challenge.
The letter said that Saiful Alam and his family want to resolve the issue peacefully and according to the law instead of a legal battle. Their aim is to avoid a long and costly legal process. However, the letter warns the central bank governor that if he continues to violate their rights and make false statements, then S. Alam will be forced to take legal action. Source: Financial Times.
