People’s Leasing chairman Kamal-Ul Alam resigns

Barrister Kamal-Ul Alam has resigned as chairman of the Board of Directors of People's Leasing and Financial Services Limited – a beleaguered non-bank financial institution (NBFI).

"Today I have submitted my resignation letter to the Board of Directors. Now the board will send the resignation letter to the High Court," Alam told The Business Standard yesterday.

According to a People's Leasing source, Kamal-Ul Alam was unable to attend the board meeting due to health reasons. As a result, People's Leasing authorities demanded the appointment of a new chairman.

However, when contacted, he said, "My physical condition is well. I have resigned on personal grounds."

Lawyers for People's Leasing brought the resignation issue to the notice of the court on Wednesday. They said the High Court would now appoint a new chairman.

Earlier, on 13 July last year, the High Court reconstituted People's Leasing and announced a 10-member board of directors. Barrister Kamal, a senior Supreme Court lawyer and international law expert, was appointed chairman of the board.

The court also directed the board to form several committees and appoint necessary officers and employees to overhaul the financial institution.

It also asked the board to be careful so that no person associated with PK Halder or his associates involved in money laundering can be appointed as a member of these committees or an officer or employee.

The government decided to liquidate People's Leasing, which was approved as a non-banking financial institution in 1997, after failing to return money to depositors due to irregularities and corruption.

The High Court also appointed a liquidator that year following an application by the central bank.

The former director of the company, Prashanta Kumar Halder, also known as PK Halder, alone has embezzled around Tk2,500 crore and syphoned it off abroad, according to a report by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and the central bank.

Apart from PK Halder, People's Leasing has Tk1,655 crore in loans to 260 individuals and organisations.

The High Court assigned the board to recover the money. It also ordered that no investor be able to claim their dues from the institution within the next six months.

But depositors say that even though the High Court restructured the board almost a year ago, there has been little progress in repaying investors. Besides, the loan is given to PK Halder and various anonymous organisations has not been recovered considerably.