A Bangladeshi customer imported 55,000 tonnes of steam coal from Singapore’s Wellhunt International Private Limited by opening a letter of credit (LC) with a Sharia-based Social Islami Bank. The Singaporean supplier has not been receiving the price for the coal for more than a year due to the bank’s negligence.
According to the LC information, the foreign supplier owed Social Islami Bank Tk 301 million for the price of coal. When the company contacted the bank to collect the money but to no avail, it approached Bangladesh Bank.
The company informed Governor Md. Mostaqur Rahman about the matter in a letter and Bangladesh Bank investigated the incident and found the truth.
The investigation revealed that officials of the relevant branch of Social Islami Bank PLC (SIBPLC) issued shipping documents without taking the import money from their customers.