Legal notice served on BB governor to stay Novartis share transfer

Legal notices were served today (8 January) on three officials of the Bangladesh Bank (BB), including the governor, urging them to stay handing over of share of Tk230 crore of Novartis Bangladesh to Radiant Pharmaceuticals Limited. 

Supreme Court lawyer Iktander Hossain Hawlader sent the notices to the BB governor, deputy governor of central bank's Foreign Exchange Investment Department and the director concerned.

The notice said a process is underway to sell 9, 75,036 shares of Novartis Bangladesh and the proposal of selling the shares to Radiant Pharmaceuticals Limited at Tk230 crore has already been approved. The process was taking place under the guidance of Salman F Rahman, former private industry and investment adviser of then prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

Now in absence of Salman, Radiant Pharmaceuticals Limited Chairman Naser Shahriar Jahedi Mohul, who is allegedly looking after the business interests of Sheikh Hasina and her family, is taking the process forward, the notice added. 

The notice further said a huge amount of foreign currency will go out of the country if extra price is paid to the foreign shareholders without taking the real market price into consideration and it is a crime under Money Laundering Prevention Act, 2012, and Money Laundering Prevention Rules, 2019.