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Banglabank denies financing militants
 DHAKA: Bangladesh's top Sharia-based commercial bank, Islami Bank, has denied it played a role in financing militants after regulators detected that funds had been transferred to suspicious accounts from its branches. The government has ordered a crackdown on sources of funding to thousands of Islamist militants, including members of two outlawed groups whose top leaders have been captured recently, in efforts to wipe out Islamist extremism in the country. The Islami Bank has come under the spotlight of the central bank's anti-money laundering investigations, as it draws most of its capital from overseas Islamic institutions. "We do not support terrorist activities, and we don't have any involvement with terror financing in any form," Abdur Raquib, executive president of the Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL), told Reuters late on Tuesday. The central bank had probed many of its accounts and the bank itself had conducted a separate investigation, he said. "We have suspended five employees including three branch managers and issued show cause notice to 15 others for their involvement in suspected transactions," Raquib said. Posted by: Fred 2006-03-23 |
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