BSEC resurrects Premier Bank IPO scam case

The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) has filed fresh litigation against Premier Bank Chairman HBM Iqbal, Bangladesh Merchant Bankers Association President Sayedur Rahman, and five other individuals as well as two institutions over allegation of opening 26,000 fictitious beneficiary owners (BO) accounts to grab Premier Bank primary shares illegally.

The case initially filed in 2005 by BSEC went inactive somehow and the regulator filed a fresh case in Dhaka's Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court in September last year based on its previous investigation report.

The court issued an arrest warrant against the accused individuals on 17 January.

In addition to Iqbal and Sayedur, the other accused were Brac EPL Investment vice chairman and former Dhaka Stock Exchange Senior Vice President Saiful Islam, former Premier Bank Managing Director (terminated) Kazi Abdul Mazid, Premier Bank Banani Branch Manager Syeed Nawsher Ali, Deputy Managing Director Nurul Alam Chowdhury, former First Executive Officer Moklesur Rahman, Premier Bank and Equity Partner's Securities (currently Brac EPL Stock Brokerage).

Sayedur was an executive director at the then EPSL. He told The Business Standard that he is yet to receive any court notice and would fight legally.

BSEC said in its legal filing, the accused, in mutual collaboration, opened 26,000 BO accounts in 2005 to grab a significant number of primary shares issued by Premier Bank, either for illegal advantages in IPO hunting (Initial Public Offering) or for influencing the shares' price after debut.

BSEC investigators found no authenticity of the actual beneficiaries of the BO accounts since those were opened with fake information and photos of the so-called accountholders.

All the bank accounts against the BO accounts were opened in Premier Bank and without authentic information.

Following the alleged scam, BSEC suspended Premier Bank's Tk55.75-crore IPO then and the bank later went public in 2007.