Akkelpur :: The police have arrested Riwana Farzana (35), the manager of the Akkelpur agent branch of Islami Bank in Joypurhat, in a case of embezzling a huge amount of money from customers. She was arrested from her sister’s house in Talora, Dumchachia, Bogra on Sunday night. She was sent to court on Monday. Akkelpur Police Station Sub-Inspector (SI) Golam Rabbani confirmed this information on Tuesday.
Riwana Farzana has been working in this branch since the start of the agent bank’s operations. She is a resident of Hajipara Mohalla in Akkelpur Municipality. Five cases have been filed so far in the case of embezzlement of customers’ money in the agent bank. At least 10-12 customers have been cheated and are preparing to file cases. The victim customers said that more than three crore taka has been embezzled so far.
According to the police station and local sources, on March 23, the incident of embezzlement of customers’ money was detected at the Akkelpur agent branch of Islami Bank. On the day of the incident, cashier Masud Rana frankly admitted that he had embezzled customers’ money. He said that he had used the embezzled money to purchase land and deposits in the village, mortgage a large amount of cultivated land and dig a pond. The video of his confession went viral on the social media Facebook. That night, the police arrested cashier Masud Rana, manager Riwana Farzana and the owner of the agent bank, Zahidul Islam, from the office and brought them to the police station. A customer filed a case against them. They were arrested in that case and sent to jail through the court. A day later, the court granted bail to all of them.
After the Eid holidays, two deputy directors of Bangladesh Bank Bogra branch, Mahmudul Hasan Chowdhury and Golam Rabbi, conducted an investigation.
They have been embezzled from their fixed deposits multiple times by using fingerprints, deposit vouchers and personal account checks, citing server problems. The cheated customers formed a human chain in front of Islami Bank on April 9 in Akkelpur Municipality and on April 13 in Joypurhat city with the same demand, demanding the return of the money and punishment of those involved. The cheated worried customers are staging a sit-in at the Islami Bank Joypurhat branch every day, hoping to get their money back. Since the incident, the Akkelpur Agent Branch of Islami Bank has been closed. Customers are not getting any assurance of getting their money back. Abdus Salam Mondal, the headmaster of Hi-Tech Municipal Kindergarten School, is leading the way for the cheated customers. He said that so far, they have received an account of embezzlement of more than three crore taka. Many have not been able to check their bank accounts yet. The amount embezzled is increasing every day. The agent owner’s security deposit is not even in the bank account. The officials of the Islami Bank Joypurhat branch should know how this money was recovered. If we do not take action to return the embezzled money, we will take further action.
Akkelpur Police Station Sub-Inspector (SI) Golam Rabbani said that five cases have been registered so far in the case of embezzlement of money at the Islami Bank Agent Branch. Agent Bank Manager Rizwana Farzana, the accused in the case, has been re-arrested from the house of Dumpachachia’s sister in Talora. Two other accused are absconding. The police are trying to arrest them.
