It could not, however, be known if the organisation's funds are used for terrorist activities. The central bank has already sent copies of the probe report to the foreign, home and finance ministries and to the Bureau of NGO Affairs.

The BB in March this year asked all banks to freeze the NGO's accounts and report its transaction profiles to the central bank before starting the probe in July. The Bureau of NGO Affairs stopped operations of Al-Haramain in June on allegations of its links to al-Qaeda.

BB sources said the probe report has been sent to the home ministry, as the BB does not have the expertise to unearth possible Al-Haramain link to terror networks. A government agency would have to probe such a matter, a BB official said.

According to the BB probe, Al-Haramain had multiple accounts with several branches of Islami Bank and Al-Arafah Islami Bank. The bank accounts were concentrated in the branches in Rangpur, Nilphamari, Kishoreganj, Cox's Bazar and Uttara in Dhaka.

Al-Haramain's account transactions with Islami Bank were found to be in breach of regulations, as under NGO regulations an NGO is allowed to have only one account with a designated bank, the probe revealed.

Although the Al-Haramain executive director verbally informed the BB officials that no funds of the organisation were used for terrorism-related activities and that the audit report on the organisation was submitted to the Bureau of NGO affairs, the BB was unable to verify the claims.

The BB officials, while examining the Al-Haramain account with Islami Bank's Uttara branch, also found that funds were transferred through TT (telephonic transfer) from the branch to accounts of some individuals apart from Al-Haramain's Rangpur and Cox's Bazar branches.

The enquiry also revealed that an Al-Haramain staff deposited Tk 14 lakh in the NGO's account with Islami Bank's Uttara branch in June last year. The amount was sent to the account with the bank's Cox's Bazar branch held by Hossain Ali, a teacher who immediately drew the money.

The Cox's Bazar branch manager told the investigators that he did not know about the source of income of Hossain Ali, neither did he know about him.

The investigators observed that these sorts of transactions are suspicious and against regulations, but the Islami Bank branches concerned did not report that clear breach of BB regulations.

The central bank fined Islami Bank and Al-Arafah Bank Tk 50,000 each for not complying with BB directives last month.

The United Nations Sanctions Committee asked the government in January to freeze accounts of Al-Haramain on the grounds that it has been listed as an al-Qaeda associate. The foreign ministry directed the central bank in late January to take steps against the organisation.

The BB then sent a circular to all banks to freeze Al-Haramain accounts and immediately report the NGO's transaction profiles to the central bank. Only Oriental Bank informed the central bank that $1,031was in a foreign currency account held by Al Haramain at their VIP Road branch.

Al-Haramain was registered with the Bureau of NGO Affairs in 1992 and ran orphanages and development programmes based on Islamic teachings and values, the probe report stated.

Banking and NGO bureau sources say there are several other Islamic NGOs and no probe has been done as to how funds are brought from the Middle East.

Between 1997 and June 2004, Tk 27 crore in Saudi funds were released by several banks, including Islami Bank, according to the probe report.

Officials at the bureau said there are some 200 foreign NGOs in Bangladesh. But funds for Islamic NGOs, sourced largely from the Middle East, have dried up.

The ebb in the funds follows tight UN leash on fund transactions of Islamic NGOs and tight Saudi government restrictions on private international monetary transactions.

NGOs received $313 million in foreign donor funds last fiscal year, compared to $278 million the year before.