Staff Correspondent
Al-Arafah Islami Bank PLC is one of the Islamic Sharia-based banks. Although the S Alam Group owned this bank for a long time, it was controlled by the KDS Group. There have been allegations that the KDS Group, using the good relationship of the S Alam Group with the previous Awami League government, laundered several hundred million taka abroad. Although the S Alam Group is controversial throughout the country for money laundering, there is no discussion about the KDS Group, which launders money. But even though they hide behind the S Alam Group, the cat has come out of the bag. There are numerous allegations against this group, including looting bank deposits in the name of loans. It is known that during the previous Awami League government, KDS Group MD and former chairman of the board of directors of Al-Arafah Islami Bank, Selim Rahman, and his brother-in-law, former vice chairman of the bank, S M Shamim Iqbal, withdrew several hundred million taka from the Gulshan branch of the bank in the name of loans and laundered them abroad. SM Shamim Iqbal and his wife Hasina Iqbal are directors of various institutions of the KDS Group. His father-in-law, Khalilur Rahman, chairman of the KDS Group and chairman of Al-Arafah Islami Bank Capital Services Ltd., is an accused in at least five cases under investigation by the ACC on charges of embezzlement while he was a director of National Bank in the past. Recently, Khalilur Rahman was also arrested in an ACC case and released on bail. Khalilur Rahman's other son-in-law, Legend Holding Limited chairman SS Abdul Hai, has embezzled Tk 350 crore from their owned National Bank, AB Bank and Southeast Bank. He was also a former director of Al-Arafah Bank. This looter syndicate of the KDS family has remained out of the media discussion despite looting various banks including Al-Arafah and National Bank. On August 14, 2025, the Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge issued a travel ban on money launderer SM Shamim Iqbal and his wife Hasina Iqbal on charges of money laundering abroad through HSBC Bank. With the money withdrawn from the bank, he purchased a luxurious house worth Tk 140 crore at 57 Fifeshire Road in North York, Ontario, Canada. A picture of this house in Canada has already gone viral on social media. He has more luxurious houses and businesses in different cities in Canada, which can be found if searched through international investigation agencies. He started withdrawing money by taking a loan from Al-Arafah Islami Bank in 2017. A bank official, who did not want to be named, said that in late 2017, he opened a current account in the name of FM Agro Foods Ltd. at the Banani branch. Later, considering the Gulshan branch of the bank to be safe and on the advice of Selim Rahman, SM Shamim Iqbal transferred the account from Banani branch to Gulshan branch in early 2018 (Account No. 05410200006796). He opened another current account (No. 0541020000051) in the name of Jecta Limited in that branch on 14.12.2022. In the first phase, 35.0He started embezzling money by taking a loan of Tk 00 crore. Although SM Shamim Iqbal introduced himself as the official CEO of the company, Jecta Limited is the owner/shareholder of the company. This Jecta Limited owns 89% of the shares of FM Agro Food Limited. It is worth noting that SM Shamim Iqbal owns 51.94% of the shares of Jecta Limited, his son SMS Zaif Iqbal owns 33.58% and Shamim Iqbal's sister Mrs. Shamshad Begum Rahman owns 10% of the shares. That is, SM Shamim Iqbal is the owner of FM Agro Limited. KDS Group MD Salim Rahman used his own influence and with the help of Shamim Iqbal withdrew a huge amount of money from the bank through FM Agro Limited. From 2018 to 2024, the investment was renewed and the investment limit was increased every year, and during most of that period, Selim Rahman played a direct role in withdrawing money from the bank while serving as the Chairman or EC Chairman of the bank. In 2024, while Selim Rahman was the EC Chairman, he played a role in adding Jecta Limited owned by Shamim Iqbal as a subsidiary company with FM Agro Limited and withdrawing more than Tk 30.00 crore by granting investment approval. Not a single taka of the loan given in favor of the two institutions was returned to the bank, but the bank was forced to repay the Tk 20.00 crore bank guarantee given by the bank through the creation of a forced loan. During this period, Selim Rahman was also the EC Chairman. A review of the bank's accounts shows that the balance of the loan of Tk 7 crore received from the Buy-Muazzal (Zen) investment product from the Gulshan branch in 2024 is currently at Tk 8.70 crore. The amount of loans taken from various products including HPSM Industries, Machinery, Murabaha TR is 135.50 crores and the current balance is 164.75 crores including profit. The amount of loans taken through 134 deals in the Murabaha TR sector alone is 77.38 crores and the current balance is 96.88 crores including profit. Since no money was paid, the entire amount of this 96.88 crores has been recorded as default. Most of the deals taken in favor of Jecta Limited, including the profit of 41.48 crores and the current dues of 50.98 crores, have become defaults. It is said that on the advice of Selim Rahman, he smuggled all the loan money taken from both accounts to Canada through hundi using his brother-in-law SM Shamim Iqbal. With this smuggled money, Shamim Iqbal built and purchased several luxurious palaces in Canada. He has laundered money by creating new businesses and trade on behalf of the KDS Group in various countries, including Canada. If an investigation is conducted by an experienced investigation team, all his investments in various countries, including Canada, will be found. To know more about this, we went to the Chittagong office of the KDS Group and asked for a statement, no one is willing to open his mouth, no one is giving a statement to the media.58% and Shamim Iqbal's sister Mrs. Shamshad Begum Rahman owns 10% of the shares. That is, the owner behind FM Agro Limited is SM Shamim Iqbal. KDS Group MD Selim Rahman used his own influence and withdrew a huge amount of money from the bank through FM Agro Limited with the help of Shamim Iqbal. From 2018 to 2024, the investment was renewed and the investment limit was increased every year and during most of that period, Selim Rahman played a direct role in withdrawing money from the bank while serving as the Chairman or EC Chairman of the bank. In 2024, while Selim Rahman was in charge of the EC Chairman, he played a role in adding Jecta Limited, owned by Shamim Iqbal, as a subsidiary company with FM Agro Limited and granting investment approval of more than Tk 30.00 crore. Not a single taka of the loan given in favor of the two institutions was returned to the bank, but the bank was forced to repay the bank guarantee of Tk 20.00 crore through the creation of a forced loan. At this time, Selim Rahman was also the EC Chairman. A review of the bank's accounts shows that the balance of the loan of Tk 7 crore taken from the Buy-Muazzal (Zen) investment product from the Gulshan branch in 2024 is currently at Tk 8.70 crore. The amount of loan taken from various products including HPSM Industries, Machinery, Murabaha TR is Tk 135.50 crore, with the current balance including profit being Tk 164.75 crore. The amount of loan taken through 134 deals in the Murabaha TR sector alone is Tk 77.38 crore, with the current balance including profit being Tk 96.88 crore. Since no money was paid, the entire amount of this Tk 96.88 crore has been recorded as default. Most of the deals, including the profit of Tk 41.48 crore taken in favor of Jecta Limited, and the current dues of Tk 50.98 crore, have gone default. It is said that on the advice of Selim Rahman, all the loan money taken from both accounts was smuggled to Canada through hundi using his brother-in-law SM Shamim Iqbal. With this smuggled money, Shamim Iqbal built and purchased several luxurious palaces in Canada. He laundered money by creating new businesses and trade on behalf of the KDS Group in different countries, including Canada. If an investigation is conducted by an experienced investigation team, all his investments in different countries, including Canada, will be found. When asked to speak at the Chittagong office of the KDS Group for details on this matter, no one is willing to open his mouth and no one is giving a statement to the media.58% and Shamim Iqbal's sister Mrs. Shamshad Begum Rahman owns 10% of the shares. That is, the owner behind FM Agro Limited is SM Shamim Iqbal. KDS Group MD Selim Rahman used his own influence and withdrew a huge amount of money from the bank through FM Agro Limited with the help of Shamim Iqbal. From 2018 to 2024, the investment was renewed and the investment limit was increased every year and during most of that period, Selim Rahman played a direct role in withdrawing money from the bank while serving as the Chairman or EC Chairman of the bank. In 2024, while Selim Rahman was in charge of the EC Chairman, he played a role in adding Jecta Limited, owned by Shamim Iqbal, as a subsidiary company with FM Agro Limited and granting investment approval of more than Tk 30.00 crore. Not a single taka of the loan given in favor of the two institutions was returned to the bank, but the bank was forced to repay the bank guarantee of Tk 20.00 crore through the creation of a forced loan. At this time, Selim Rahman was also the EC Chairman. A review of the bank's accounts shows that the balance of the loan of Tk 7 crore taken from the Buy-Muazzal (Zen) investment product from the Gulshan branch in 2024 is currently at Tk 8.70 crore. The amount of loan taken from various products including HPSM Industries, Machinery, Murabaha TR is Tk 135.50 crore, with the current balance including profit being Tk 164.75 crore. The amount of loan taken through 134 deals in the Murabaha TR sector alone is Tk 77.38 crore, with the current balance including profit being Tk 96.88 crore. Since no money was paid, the entire amount of this Tk 96.88 crore has been recorded as default. Most of the deals, including the profit of Tk 41.48 crore taken in favor of Jecta Limited, and the current dues of Tk 50.98 crore, have gone default. It is said that on the advice of Selim Rahman, all the loan money taken from both accounts was smuggled to Canada through hundi using his brother-in-law SM Shamim Iqbal. With this smuggled money, Shamim Iqbal built and purchased several luxurious palaces in Canada. He laundered money by creating new businesses and trade on behalf of the KDS Group in different countries, including Canada. If an investigation is conducted by an experienced investigation team, all his investments in different countries, including Canada, will be found. When asked to speak at the Chittagong office of the KDS Group for details on this matter, no one is willing to open his mouth and no one is giving a statement to the media.The current balance of the loan of Tk 7 crore taken from the investment product Buy-Muazzal (Zen) from Gulshan branch in 2024 is Tk 8.70 crore. The amount of loan taken from various products including HPSM industry, machinery, Murabaha TR is Tk 135.50 crore with profit and the current balance is Tk 164.75 crore. In the Murabaha TR sector alone, the amount of loan taken through 134 deals is Tk 77.38 crore with profit and the current balance is Tk 96.88 crore. Since no money has been paid, the entire amount of Tk 96.88 crore has been recorded as default. Most of the deals with the current dues of Tk 50.98 crore including profit of Tk 41.48 crore taken in favor of Jecta Limited have become defaulted. It is said that on the advice of Selim Rahman, he smuggled all the loan money received from both accounts to Canada through hundi using his brother-in-law SM Shamim Iqbal. With this smuggled money, Shamim Iqbal built and purchased several luxurious palaces in Canada. He laundered money by creating new businesses and trade on behalf of the KDS Group in different countries, including Canada. If an investigation is conducted by an experienced investigation team, all his investments in different countries, including Canada, will be found. To know more about this, no one is willing to open his mouth and no one is giving a statement to the media.The current balance of the loan of Tk 7 crore taken from the investment product Buy-Muazzal (Zen) from Gulshan branch in 2024 is Tk 8.70 crore. The amount of loan taken from various products including HPSM industry, machinery, Murabaha TR is Tk 135.50 crore with profit and the current balance is Tk 164.75 crore. In the Murabaha TR sector alone, the amount of loan taken through 134 deals is Tk 77.38 crore with profit and the current balance is Tk 96.88 crore. Since no money has been paid, the entire amount of Tk 96.88 crore has been recorded as default. Most of the deals with the current dues of Tk 50.98 crore including profit of Tk 41.48 crore taken in favor of Jecta Limited have become defaulted. It is said that on the advice of Selim Rahman, he smuggled all the loan money received from both accounts to Canada through hundi using his brother-in-law SM Shamim Iqbal. With this smuggled money, Shamim Iqbal built and purchased several luxurious palaces in Canada. He laundered money by creating new businesses and trade on behalf of the KDS Group in different countries, including Canada. If an investigation is conducted by an experienced investigation team, all his investments in different countries, including Canada, will be found. To know more about this, no one is willing to open his mouth and no one is giving a statement to the media.