Bangladesh Bank could not produce verifiable payment records for seven overseas programmes attended by 13 of its officials, according to an internal audit that raises questions about the central bank’s financial controls and oversight of project spending.
The audit found no SWIFT messages, bank advice or approved remittance documents establishing how the programme fees were transferred abroad.
It also found no evidence that participating officials received training relevant to the stated objectives of the programmes. Auditors concluded that project funds had effectively been spent on travel rather than capacity-building.
The findings concern the Asian Development Bank-funded Second Small and Medium Sized Enterprise Development Project (SMEDP-2), which was designed to support Bangladesh’s SME sector.
Auditors warned that money withdrawn for overseas programme fees may have been misappropriated. The report did not establish that misappropriation had occurred.
The investigation also identified nearly 1.79 crore taka withdrawn in cash, an 89 lakh taka advance to a travel company without a documented tender process, and decisions attributed to a committee whose term had expired.
The audit provides an important comparison. An eighth overseas programme had the required banking documentation, demonstrating that a verifiable payment trail could be maintained under the same project.
Officials familiar with the matter alleged, on condition of anonymity, that a substantial portion of the funds had been diverted.
Daily Waadaa could not independently verify the allegation.
The spending originated from investment returns on unused money held in SMEDP-2’s revolving fund.
On October 9, 2025, then Bangladesh Bank governor Ahsan H Mansur approved the allocation of 46.74 crore taka in investment income.
Of that amount, 30 crore taka was allocated to the government, 10 crore taka to Bangladesh Bank as commission and 6.74 crore taka to impact assessment, SME-sector development and capacity-building activities, including overseas training and exposure visits.
The audit found repeated overseas visits by the same four project officials under the programme title “SME Innovation and Entrepreneurship Exposure Visit”.
Bangladesh Bank staff orders obtained by Waadaa identified the officials as Munira Islam, then SMEDP-2 director and now director of FEPD-2; Additional Directors Md Tarikul Islam and Tutul Hossain Mollick; and Joint Director Prashanta Mohan Chakraborty.
The four were nominated for five programmes across five countries.
They travelled together to South Korea from December 15 to 21, 2025. They subsequently visited the Maldives from January 19 to 21, 2026, before proceeding directly to Thailand from January 22 to 25.
The programmes were arranged through travel agencies: Heaven Miles Travel & Tour in Malaysia, Chariot Travels in Singapore, Korehalal Trip in South Korea, Sunsand Maldives in the Maldives and Discover Thailand in Thailand.
Under Bangladesh Bank’s staff orders, participants were required to report to the governor within 15 days of returning and submit programme materials to the Research Department.
Auditors, however, found no SME-training itineraries in the relevant files and concluded that the officials had not participated in relevant training.
The benefits extended beyond the project team.
Staff orders show that SMEDP-2 financed a March 2026 trip to Singapore for nine senior officials, including three executive directors, under a programme titled “Strategic Thinking and Decision-Making for Central Banking Leaders”.
The participants were Executive Directors Md Sirajul Islam, Husne Ara Shikha and Md Enamul Karim Khan; Directors Md Zabdul Islam, Liza Fahmida, Mizanur Rahman Akon and Mahbubul Alam; and Additional Directors Mohammad Ataur Rahman Khan and Md Kamrul Islam.
Enamul Karim, the executive director overseeing SMEDP-2, joined the Singapore programme. He was also authorised to travel to Switzerland in July at the project’s expense.
His participation places a senior official responsible for supervising the project among those receiving project-financed overseas travel.
The audit findings raise questions about the separation between project oversight and the approval of benefits for senior officials.
The audit identified two substantial cash withdrawals from the project. The first, on November 30, 2025, amounted to 66.85 lakh taka. The second, on January 8, 2026, totalled approximately 1.13 crore taka.
Together, the withdrawals amounted to nearly 1.79 crore taka.
A project note recorded that 89 lakh taka from the second withdrawal had been advanced to ITS Holidays, leaving 23.56 lakh taka in cash.
Auditors found no register or supporting records identifying who held the remaining cash or where it was kept. The procurement records presented a separate problem.
Project documents stated that seven organisations had submitted quotations before ITS Holidays was selected. Auditors could not locate those quotations.
They also found no cost estimate, comparative statement, evaluation report or evidence that a procurement evaluation committee had assessed the offers.
The audit concluded that ITS Holidays had been appointed without a tendering process.
The findings leave two distinct gaps in the financial record: how the overseas programme fees were paid and how the project selected and advanced money to a travel service provider.
The audit also examined the governance arrangements for the 6.74 crore taka fund.
The committee responsible for administering the money had expired on December 26, 2025.
Yet project records showed that it purportedly met again on March 11, 2026, approximately 75 days after its term ended. Auditors found no evidence of prior approval for that meeting.
Nor did they find records showing that the two finance ministry representatives had been notified or that security passes had been arranged for them, as had been done for earlier meetings.
The meeting resolution contained further irregularities. Only two members initialled its first page, while seven signed the second.
Auditors also identified discrepancies between a signature attributed to Deputy Secretary Muhammad Amin Sharif and his signatures and initials on earlier documents.
The audit questioned whether the March 11 meeting had taken place as recorded.
These findings cast doubt on the documented authorisation of decisions concerning the fund after the committee’s mandate expired.
Bangladesh Bank did not address Waadaa’s specific questions about the missing overseas payment records, cash withdrawals, procurement process or foreign travel by senior officials.
In a written response [to Waadaa] on October 14, the central bank said the issues had emerged during a routine examination of SMEDP-2 by its Internal Audit Department.
It said the project management unit had requested explanations from the officials concerned and that their responses would be forwarded to the Internal Audit Department for “necessary action”.
The audit observations were issued on August 30. More than six weeks later, the central bank’s response indicated that explanations were still being sought.
Munira Islam, who headed SMEDP-2 during the period under examination, initially sought time to respond to Waadaa’s questions. She did not respond when contacted again.
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