Published: 12:04 AM, 26 October 2026
Padma Bank pays BDT 6 million to Nafiz Sharafat every month
Jamal Hossain, an office assistant at a private organization, tried to withdraw Tk 200,000/- (two lakh taka) from his fixed-term savings scheme at Padma Bank's Dhanmondi branch in January 2025, after the scheme matured, but failed. More than a year later, the bank has still not returned his savings.
Jamal is not alone. Thousands of ordinary depositors like him are facing a severe humanitarian crisis. Despite depositing their lifetime savings with the bank, they have been unable to recover their money for years. By the end of 2025, more than Tk 30 billion in deposits belonging to individual account holders remained trapped in the bank.
Although Padma Bank has failed to repay its depositors, it continues to pay Tk 6 million every month in rent for the Finance Square building in Gulshan-2 to an entity linked to former chairman Chowdhury Nafiz Sarafat. People close to Nafiz Sarafat have confirmed that he has been staying abroad since the political transition on August 5, 2024, amid multiple allegations of money laundering.
At a time when the bank's financial condition was deteriorating sharply, Padma Bank relocated its head office to the Gulshan building in 2022, while Nafiz Sarafat was serving as chairman. The bank rented approximately 24,000 square feet of space for its head office, a conventional banking branch, and an Islamic banking branch at a rate of Tk 250 per square foot. An investigation by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) found that the bank had also paid Tk 140 million in advance as rent for the property.
The transaction was approved during the tenure of then Bangladesh Bank Governor Abdur Rouf Talukder. However, the CID investigation identified a serious conflict of interest and found that the property was linked to Nafiz's wife, Anjuman Ara Shahid, and their minor son, Rahib Safwan Sarafat Chowdhury.
The problems do not end there. The bank has been unable to recover more than Tk 2.19 billion invested in the Bangladesh Fixed Income Investment Special Purpose Vehicle (BFISPV). The fund is managed by Race Asset Management, whose chairman is Nafiz Sarafat. The investment was made in 2015 and 2016, when Nafiz was a member of Padma Bank's board of directors. After evidence of illegal share transactions emerged, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC), the capital market regulator, suspended all transactions under an alternative fund managed by Race in July 2024.
Later, on November 27, 2025, the CID filed a case against Chowdhury Nafiz Sarafat, members of his family, and an associate over allegations of laundering more than Tk 16.13 billion.
Padma Bank reported a staggering loss of Tk 93 billion in 2025. It is now operating on a nominal basis. Although the bank officially has 74 branches, most are either nonfunctional or operating with minimal capacity. Its total workforce has fallen from 1,100 to approximately 700. With many branch managers and senior officers leaving their jobs, numerous branches are now being kept operational largely by junior employees, office attendants, and security guards.
Even the employees who remain at the bank are trapped in a difficult situation. Several Padma Bank employees told reporters that although their salaries are shown as being credited electronically to their accounts every month, they have been unable to withdraw any cash or access their earned wages for the past three years.
Padma Bank's acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Kazi Mohammad Talha, has acknowledged that the bank lacks the liquidity needed to repay depositors.
"Whatever funds we receive from collections, we try to use them to settle outstanding payments in small amounts. Sometimes, salaries are credited to employees' accounts, but they cannot withdraw the entire amount immediately. We release money in small installments, depending on the availability of cash," he said.
