No audit of postal accounts at Dhaka AG office since 1990

"It is natural that a section of employees at the AG office (Postal) in Dhaka were involved in the scam", a member of the probe team told The Daily Star in Rangpur on Thursday.

Age-old banking system and irregular audit allowed the misappropriation, he said.

Tap here to add The Daily Star as a trusted source

A system should be introduced at the AG office in Dhaka for day to day check of accounts there and recheck with post offices in districts, said ABM Khorshed Alam, chief of the probe team in Gaibandha.

High officials in the postal department are now thinking to form a probe body to probe the matter at the AG office also, he said.

Our Rangpur Correspondent reports:

The high level teams now probing the scam in Lalmonirhat, Rangpur and Kurigram head post offices have detected the deceptive ways used by the corrupt employees to defalcate funds from depositors' accounts.

There was a racket involved in it. "More persons were involved in the scam. We are keeping mum for the shake of proper investigation," said a probe body member seeking anonymity.

He said huge amounts have been misappropriated but declined to specify. "Investigation will continue. Postal department wants to disclose details after finishing the probe so that probe bodies can work smoothly," Rezaul Islam, Acting Deputy Postmaster General (DPMG) in Rangpur, said.

"The ways (they used) were very deceptive. Had some of the honest employees not informed the authorities of the scam, the department could not have detected those", he said.

As per system, records of all transactions at a postal bank is kept in a ledger

book and a journal sheet separately. It is mandatory for record keepers to maintain ledger book and journal sheet simultaneously for all transactions. Every postal bank in Bangladesh sends copies of the journal sheet to the Accountant General's office (postal) in Dhaka after every fifteen days.

But these were not checked at the AG office.

At districts, the corrupt employees who handled transactions opened accounts in the name of their relatives. They tempered ledger books and showed huge false deposits against those accounts and later withdrew the money.

A Counter Operator, a Ledger Keeper, and an Assistant Postmaster run all transactions in postal banks.

Misappropriation is not possible without an understanding among the three, sources said.

Our Gaibandha Correspondent reports:

The probe team has resumed investigation into the postal scam in Gaibandha after collecting copies of savings documents from the central office as the culprits destroyed copies at their postal savings banks.

The probe team could not make satisfactory progress earlier due to lack documents. A high level team then collected copies of the missing documents from the record room at the head office, sources in the probe team said.

"Now the probe team will make quick progress in investigation but will still take some time to ascertain the total defalcation", said ABM Khorshed Alam, chief of the probe team here.

The team unearthed defalcation Tk 20 lakh only in three hours' investigation on Tuesday night. The amount may turn out to be crores of taka when the investigation will end, he added.

The sources said one croretaka bank accounts of DPGM Susanta Kumar Mondal has been freezed for his suspected involvement in the scam. Mondol and another DPGM in Rangpur Regional Post Office --Mahbuber Rahmanwere earlier suspended after the scam came to light.

They said the corrupt employees tempered ledger books and misappropriated money from depositor's accounts through other accounts they opened in the name of their relatives.

"We must detect the whole postal scam within the shortest possible time", said Khorshed Alam.

He also blamed the postal audit department for the scam. "A new system of day-to-day checking of accounts with the head office has been introduced to avoid any such malpractice in future", he added.

Police could not apprehend any of the employees at the Gaibandha Head Post Office accused of involvement in the scam. They are absconding since filing of case.

Meanwhile, a magistrate court here on Thursday placed Ahad Mondol, Post Master of Palashbari post office, on three days' remand for interrogation in connection with embezzlement of funds.

Palashbari police arrested Ahad Modal following filing of a case against him and Postal Operator Golam Mostafa, by Postal Inspector Abdul Hamid of Gaibandha Post Office.

Golam Mostafa is absconding since detection of defalcation of funds at Gaibandha Post office on April 1.

Defalcation of Tk 69,987 has so far been detected from Palashbari postal saving bank.