The Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA) has commissioned the chartered accountant firm Hoda Vasi Chowdhury and Co to conduct a special audit at Sonali Life Insurance in response to allegations of fund embezzlement against the company’s owners. In a directive issued on December 31, IDRA instructed the CA firm to complete the audit within 30 working days.
The audit will focus on the directors’ acquisition of Sonali Life’s shares in 2018 to increase its paid-up capital, involving the verification of the actual number of shares purchased and corresponding monetary transactions. Specific allegations include the payment of a Tk8.95 crore loan from South Bangla Agriculture Bank and Tk1.55 crore from the company’s account against the fixed deposit receipt (FDR) for the purchase of shares by four directors.
Other aspects to be scrutinized include allegations of maintaining family authority on the company’s board, a Tk3 crore payment in 2023 from Sonali Life’s account to Janata Bank for the chairman’s personal business, and the acquisition of a Tk152 crore loan against the company’s FDR for purchasing a building owned by the current chairman. The audit will also examine the purchase agreement of a Tk350 crore building owned by Sonali Life’s chairman and the withdrawal of Tk61 crore from the company between 2021 and 2023 to institutions owned by the chairman.
Additionally, the audit will verify allegations of receiving dividends exceeding declared amounts, the chairman’s expenses for medical, travel, shopping, and studying abroad funded by company funds. Sonali Life Director Sheikh Mohammad Danial faces scrutiny for various allegations, including having a private office within the company and participating in board meetings without being a director since September 12, 2020.
Despite attempts to contact Sonali Life’s Chairman Mostafa Golam Quddus being unsuccessful, Director Danial claimed that unscrupulous officers in the company’s accounts department embezzled money through fake documents, putting the company at risk.
