The Grameen Bank chairman has claimed that some Tk100bn of the microcredit organisation's profit from Grameenphone was missing.
"The profit, which is supposed to come from the bank's stake in Grameenphone, was supposed to go to the beneficiaries of Grameen Bank. But the fund cannot be traced," Chairman Mozammel Haque told reporters after a meeting with Finance Minister AMA Muhith on Monday at the secretariat.
The basis for the GB chairman's claim that Grameen Bank is entitled to a share of Grameenphone profits is unclear, as Grameen Bank has no stake in Grameenphone.
He also claimed that Grameenphone had paid the money to the bank but the amount had not been deposited in the bank. Haque pointed the finger at Muhammad Yunus, the founder of Grameen Bank.
Finance Minister Muhith, however, said they could not claim this separate amount of profit money without calculation of the total profit which was supposed to go to Grameen Bank.
The finance minister said more time will be needed for submission of the final report and that it was not possible to submit the report of the GB commission before Eid vacation.
Haque claimed that after six years of operation, the bank's share in Grameenphone should have increased from 35% to 51%.
"But approximately Tk100bn profits of Grameenphone has not been deposited in the bank or Grameen Telecom in the last 11 years," he added.
In January, Haque made a similar claim. Following his remarks, Grameen Telecom in a statement pointed out that Grameen Bank had not received any dividend awarded to Grameen Telecom from Grameenphone as it was not entitled to it because there was no contractual or any other relationship between the company and the bank.
Grameen Telecom Secretary Nazmul Islam in the statement termed the chairman's remarks incorrect and misleading and strongly denied them.
The Grameen Bank Commission, formed by the government to look into irregularities with the pioneering micro-lender, published an interim report in February, in which it said the original licence for Grameenphone, the country's biggest mobile operator, was obtained illegally.
The report called for Grameenphone's licence to be immediately suspended, or for Telenor to relinquish 16% of Grameenphone to Grameen Bank.
The finance minister later told the media that the 16% that was supposed to go to Grameen Bank from Grameenphone had not been transferred, but it would not be wise to suspend Grameenphone's licence as it was an operational organisation.
The basis for the finance minister's claim that 16% of the company was supposed to be transferred to Grameen Bank is unclear.
