Delta Life asks employee to withdraw complaint against IDRA Chairman

Delta Life Insurance Company Ltd, now run by administrator, has asked its joint executive vice-president Pollob Bhowmik to withdraw his complaint made to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) against the chief insurance regulator.

A letter signed by Delta Life Administrator Sultan-Ul-Abedine Molla, ordered the company employee to do so, as his complaint was 'false and fake'.

Sultan-Ul-Abedine Molla told The Business Standard, "Pollob Bhowmik recently confessed to a concerned internal committee that he was compelled to file the complaint and the committee reported to me that the complaint was based on false allegations."

That is why we had to ask him to withdraw the complaint against the Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA) Chairman M Mosharraf Hossain.

Earlier on 7 December, 2020, Delta Life Insurance Company, the first private sector life insurer of the country, filed a complaint to the ACC against Mosharraf claiming that he demanded Tk50 lakh in bribes from the company to approve the actuarial basis of the company, which is a must for the company to pay dividends to shareholders.

The company also submitted a recording of the call and its transcript to the ACC as proof.

Meanwhile, Zeyad Rahman, a member of the Delta Life's suspended board of directors, told The Business Standard in a text message, "This development confirms our apprehension that the administrator has been appointed for a collateral purpose, namely, to interfere with and frustrate an investigation on an allegation of corruption by procuring a withdrawal of the complaint through duress."

"The allegation is corroborated by multiple audio recordings and consequent admission by the IDRA chairman that he did indeed seek illegal gratification," he quoted.

"We remain confident that our position will be vindicated by a fair and proper inquiry and investigation by the government and the ACC," he said.

The company has been in a serious tussle with its primary regulator for the last few months over reappointment of its Chief Executive Officer Adeeba Rahman, following IDRA's two special audits to investigate the company's accounts.

The company called a press conference on 7 February to express its allegations against the IDRA chairman.

Four days later IDRA suspended its board for four months and appointed the administrator who was asked to ensure a reliable audit of the company alongside letting the business run smoothly.

On the same day of getting the administrator, the company was sued by the VAT intelligence which accused the company of dodging value added taxes of around Tk35 crore.

Zeyad Rahman repeatedly claims that the company, its top executive and the board members are being harassed by the chief regulator.

On the other hand, the regulator also sued the company for defamation.