The incident of defrauding at the Oriental Bank as revealed in the Bangladesh Bank's report is however the worst-case scenario. It is further alarming to find, as pointed out by a senior executive of another bank that defrauding and siphoning of funds were continuing at the bank even when the scrutiny of the central bank was in progress. A senior official of the Ministry of Finance has further said that some politically blessed shareholders are trying to take over the bank before the expiry of the present government's tenure. We are alarmed at the prospect.

We would like to question the necessity and purpose of holding any scrutiny into the corrupt practices when the findings are not made use of. To date we have only seen suspension or removal of a managing director. We are yet to see any comprehensive and stern legal and criminal procedures instituted across the board against those identified as being involved in such fraudulent acts. It also leads us to believe that influential quarters both within and outside the government are actively engaged in blocking the implementation of BB's findings and recommendations.

This incident also tells us that alongside curative measures we should consider preventive measures that would close all avenues of recurrence of defrauding acts in the future. We feel that one way to prevent such possible fraud could be for the government to carefully and comprehensively scrutinize the application for operation of private banks before it is finally given the go ahead. It may be worthwhile to look into the possibility of having some statutory provisions like discouraging people to be on the board of management who have dubious credentials in terms of honesty and integrity. One has to ensure that people at the helm of affairs of a bank are thoroughly professional.

Furthermore, monitoring of private banks' operations has to be made more vigorous and regular so that the interests of the account holders are duly protected.