Depositors Urge Bangladesh Bank Intervention
Depositors at International Leasing and Financial Services Ltd (ILFSL) are calling on Bangladesh Bank to step in and help them recover their funds. This plea was made during a press conference held at the National Press Club in Dhaka by the International Lease Individual Depositors Forum.
The chairman of the Depositors Forum, Badal Nandi, along with coordinator Tasdiq Ahmed and MD Kamruzzaman Kamal, addressed the attendees. They stated that ILFSL had been a robust financial entity until 2015, when the PK Halder Syndicate took control.
Members of the Forum allege that SK Sur, a former lieutenant governor of the central bank, and Shah Alam, a former general manager at BB, played direct roles in the misappropriation of public deposits at ILFSL. They expressed frustration that, due to this embezzlement, depositors have been unable to access their hard-earned money for over seven years.
“In this situation, individual depositors are suffering the most,” they remarked. They expressed disappointment that despite several attempts to communicate with the current central bank governor, they have not received a response.
“It’s a significant oversight that those who have been deprived of their savings for such a long period cannot even get a meeting with the governor.
“Depositors are essential to the banking and financial systems, and the neglect of their situation casts doubt on whether genuine reforms can occur in the country’s finance sector,” they continued.
ILFSL, which was established in 1996 and received its NBFI license the same year, had maintained financial stability until the troubling changes began in 2015. As of November 2024, liabilities had ballooned to nearly 4,300 crores, rendering it unable to meet its obligations.
On April 10, 2025, the High Court reaffirmed the board of directors of ILFSL, aiming to restore the organization and safeguard depositor interests. The court indicated that by incorporating trustworthy and experienced professionals, ILFSL could regain its operational strength and re-enter the financial market.
Notably, PK Halder was arrested in West Bengal in May 2022 by Indian authorities on money laundering charges. He was granted bail by a Kolkata court on December 25, 2024, after spending over two years in custody.
In a separate case, the Dhaka Court sentenced Halder to 22 years in prison for money laundering in October 2023, with the sentence beginning from the date of his extradition from India. However, the Bangladeshi government has yet to bring him back to the country.
