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Illegal gold ingots seized by customs officers are deposited in the vault of the Bank of Bangladesh Mehedi Hasan / Dhaka Tribune
Central bank authorities denied the report's findings, claiming that his safe is protected by a security system
An inspection report of the Directorate of Intelligence and Customs Investigations (ICID) revealed irregularities regarding the gold stored in the vault of the bank of the Bangladesh, which could cause a huge loss for the government.
However, the central bank vehemently rejected the report, saying its findings were flawed because it is impossible to penetrate the vault's security system.
The irregularities were revealed in an article published yesterday by the national daily Bangla Prothom. Alo, who said that about 3.3 kg of apparent gold coins and rings had been found in mixed metals, while gold bullion that was measured at 22 and 24 carats during the deposit turned out to be 18 carats later.
ICID discovered these shocking contradictions by examining 963kg of randomly selected gold bullion and other items stored in the vault of the Bangladesh Bank from January to April 2017. The ICID Report , according to the ICID report, submitted to the central bank this year via the National Board of Revenue (NBR), coins and gold rings, which had been deposited at the central bank in 2015, were measured and were found in 80% pure gold during the deposit.
But when the ICID inspection team measured the same rings and coins two years later, they found 46.66% gold there.
Sources in the banking sector as well as banking experts believe that the original gold objects were stolen from the vault and replaced by their bad quality duplicates.
These irregularities could cost the government more than Tk3 crore, according to the ICID report.
Leading economists have asked the central bank to launch a full-fledged survey on the subject.
"It is impossible to make changes to the quality or extent of an object of gold once it is deposited in the trunk [Bangladesh Bank] unless someone One having access to the safe physically changes the object, "says Khandaker Ibrahim, former governor of Bangladesh Bank. Khaled told Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
This is not the first time that the central bank finds itself at the center of a scam.
In February 2016, unidentified hackers stole about $ 81 million from the Bank of Bangladesh's account at the Federal Reserve Bank in New York City using fraudulent orders on the SWIFT payment system, sending the bank account. money to the accounts of Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC). ). In February 2018, approximately $ 15 million was recovered.
The Bank of Bangladesh flatly rejected ICID's report, claiming that any discrepancy could be due to "material error".
At an emergency press conference yesterday, central bank officials said the mistake had been made by the goldsmith who measured the coins. in question at the time of filing.
Awlad Hossain Chowdhury, who is in charge of the vault, said that the only mistake made by the central bank was based on language – mainly the confusion of the English-Bangla translation during the documentation.
Carats was because they had been measured by two different machines, and "each machine reads differently."
"The customs intelligence machine was able to measure the bars as 22 carats, but our machine found them 18 carats," he said The press conference
Rejecting the report Prothom Alo, the executive director of the Bank from Bangladesh, SM Rabiul Hassan, said that there was no possibility to change or alter the gold kept in the vault of the central bank. "The report [CIID] is absolutely groundless," he added
. The head of the central bank said the report was prepared arbitrarily by ICID and had no connection with the Bangladesh Bank.
"There is a six-tiered security system to protect the Bank of Bangladesh safe, and even the governor and vice-governor need security permits to get to this place," he said. he adds. ICID Measured Gold Before Referees BB
When addressing the Dhaka Tribune, ICID Director General, Shahidul Islam, said his agency did not own its own machine. Rejecting Bangladesh's assertion that the ICID report was wrong, the ICID head stated that the gold objects had been measured and documented with the help of central bank machinery, in the presence of A representative of the bank. [19659004] "Their representative was in front of us, even the inspection done by the customs intelligence services was made before the representatives of the banks.There is no way that the blame can be imputed to us", he told the Dhaka Tribune.
Sources indicate that all illegal gold confiscated by various government agencies is deposited in the vault of the central bank. The interested person contacts the central bank and then takes the gold to the vault on an agreed day in advance. Officials at the vault's central bank then perform product tests to measure their weight and purity.
If the bullion meets international standards, it is added to the country's foreign exchange reserve. If it 's a jewel, the bank sells it through open tender calls and deposits the money to the national treasury.
Experts demand thorough investigation
Leading economists and banking experts have asked the central bank to launch an investigation. thorough investigation on the subject, regardless of the authenticity of the ICID report.
"The gold is deposited in the presence of the officials of the Bank of Bangladesh, who must sign a form when they receive the objects.Every time the guardian of the safe is changed, all the gold objects are re-evaluated and double-checked, "he told Dhaka Tribune.
There is no way to change the items unless an insider does it.
"If the Bangladesh Bank officials thought that there was an error in ICID's measurements on gold objects, why did not they raise objection before? ", He asked.
"These are huge allegations, and the bank's authorities must determine who is responsible, disclose them to the public and take legal action against them," said Professor Mustafizur Rahman, a prominent member of the center. The Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD) The ICID report was "very alarming."
"The central bank should conduct a thorough investigation into whether the allegations are true. If this is the case, the authorities should know why and how it happened and who is responsible for it, "he said.
After the cyberhero of 2016, incidents like this will affect trust citizens in the Central Bank 19659004] He also asked the central bank to provide security for the vault so that such incidents would not be repeated in the future.
AB Mirza Azizul Islam, former financial advisor to the interim government of 2007-2008, said the incident had been revealed after a government agency had reviewed it.
"The next step should be to know who has access to "Vault, and to know who was responsible for the irregularities and to take strict measures against them," said the chief economist.
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