Chowdhury Nafeez Sarafat is a Bangladeshi Businessman connected to the Awami League government. [1] [2] Sarafat is the founder chairman of the board of trustees of Canadian University of Bangladesh. [3] [4] He was the chairman of Padma Bank PLC. [5] [6]
Sarafat is from Gopalganj District. [1] His older brother is sports commentator Chowdhury Jafarullah Sharafat. [7]
Sarafat started his career in 1999 at Standard Chartered Bank. [8] He was appointed a director of IFIC Bank and left Standard Chartered Bank after questions were raised about his connections to two banks simultaneously. [8]
Sarafat joined ICB Islamic Bank as the Head of Consumer Banking in 2008. [8]
Sarafat received his Doctorate in Business Administration from Commonwealth University-London on 15 December 2016. [9] The online only university is not accredited, and the degree is not recognized. [10] [11]
In January 2018, Sarafat was appointed chairman of Farmers Bank Limited, later renamed to Padma Bank, after its chairman Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir resigned over allegations of embezzling from the bank. [12] In 2021, Sarafat and Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir accused each other of being corrupt. [13] Alamgir, who is a shareholder of Padma Bank, [14] asked Bangladesh Bank to investigate a loan of a billion taka to Strategic Equity Management allegedly owned by Sarafat. [13] He is the Head of Consumer Banking of ICB Islamic Bank Limited. [15]
Sarafat is the founding chairman of Canadian University of Bangladesh. [16] The university awards Sarafat Chowdhury Merit Scholarship. [17] In October 2021, Benoit Prefontaine, Canadian High Commissioner to Bangladesh, laid the foundation stone for the permanent campus of Canadian University of Bangladesh in Purbachal in a ceremony presided by Sarafat. [18] The plot, initially earmarked for a school, for the university had been allocated in violation of government rules by RAJUK. [19] Mohammad A. Arafat is the chief adviser to the board of trustees. [19] [20]
In 2022, Sarafat became a director of the National Tea Company Limited. [21] He founded two news organizations, Dainik Bangla and newsbangla24.com. [8] He founded Citizen TV with Muhammad Shafiqur Rahman, member of parliament, who later alleged Sarafat and Benazir Ahmed forcefully took shares of the TV from him. [8]
The cartoonist Ahmed Kabir Kishore was arrested under the Digital Security Act for drawing cartoons critical of the government, including one where he portrayed Sarafat as a bank embezzler. [22]
Sarafat owns RACE Portfolio and Issue Management which was one of the issue manager in the aborted attempt to list Best Holdings Limited whose permission was denied by Bangladesh Bank. [23] Another issue manager, the government owned ICB Capital Management, denied any involvement with the company. [24] He is a director of Unique Hotel and Resorts Limited, which owns Westin Dhaka. [25] He and his wife are directors of Race Financial Management Inc. and Can-Ban Chambers House, based in Canada. [26] [27] He is a major shareholder of RACE Asset Management. [1] He is a member of the executive committee of Bangladesh Association of Banks. [28] He is the Managing Director of Unique Meghnaghat Power Limited, a subsidiary of Unique group. [29] [30]
He manipulated the stock prices of many companies for financial gain and caused losses of crores of taka to general shareholders. [31] [32] [33]
Sarafat is married to Anjuman Ara Shahid. [34] She served as the chairman of Strategic Finance and Investment Limited and later director of Southeast Bank. [34] [35] She is the Vice-Chairman of Canadian University of Bangladesh. [34] She also owns shares of Padma Bank. [34] Their request to make their son, Chowdhury Rahib Sarafat, a director of Southeast Bank was denied by Bangladesh Bank as he was under 20. [34]
Prime Bank PLC. is a public limited commercial bank in Bangladesh with its headquarters in Dhaka. With 146 branches and 170 ATM the bank has operation in corporate, consumer, MSME and sustainable banking. Tanjil Chowdhury, managing director of East Coast Group, is chairman of Prime Bank.
Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir is a Bangladeshi politician. He is a Jatiya Sangsad member representing the Chandpur-1 constituency since 2008, and was Minister of Home Affairs from 2011 to 2013. He is also an economist, former civil servant, and writer in Bangladesh.
The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) is the regulator of the capital market of Bangladesh, comprising Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE). The commission is a statutory body and attached to the Ministry of Finance.
Southeast Bank PLC. is a private commercial bank in Bangladesh. Alamgir Kabir is chairman of the bank and Nuruddin Md. Sadeque Hossain is the managing director of the bank.
Al-Arafah Islami Bank PLC. is a Shariah Based Islamic bank in Bangladesh.
Aziz Mohammad Bhai is a Bangladeshi industrialist and a former film producer. He is currently the chairman of Olympic Industries Limited.
Mutual Trust Bank PLC is a private commercial bank headquartered in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Md Abdul Malek, chairman of Sheltech Consultants (Pvt) Ltd, is the chairman of Mutual Trust Bank PLC.
HBM Iqbal is a Bangladeshi entrepreneur and the founder chairperson of Premier Group of Companies Ltd. He is also a Bangladesh Awami League politician and a former Jatiya Sangsad member representing the Dhaka-10 constituency during 1996–2001.
Padma Bank PLC. is a private commercial bank headquartered in Gulshan, Dhaka, Bangladesh. The bank was established in 2013. The fourth generation bank commenced its banking operation on June 3, 2013. By an order On January 29, 2019, Bangladesh Bank has changed the name of The Farmers Bank Limited to Padma Bank Limited after the bank failed to pay its liabilities due numerous bad loans and embezzlements.
The Dainik Bangla is a Bengali-language daily newspaper in Bangladesh. The newspaper was closed in 1997 and was later revived on 4 September 2022 by an editorial panel led by Nazrul Islam Mazumder and Chowdhury Nafeez Sharafat.
South Bangla Agriculture and Commerce Bank Public Limited Company (SBACBPLC) is a private commercial bank headquartered in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It incorporated in 2013 as a banking company under Companies Act, 1994 and is regulated under the Banking Companies Act, 1991. The bank has network of 88 branches and 25 sub-branches around the country.
Canadian University of Bangladesh is a private university in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The university is affiliated to the University Grants Commission. Chowdhury Nafeez Sarafat is the chairperson of the board of trustees. H. M. Jahirul Haque is the vice-chancellor of the university.
Purbachal Expressway, is a 12.5-kilometre-long (7.8 mi), 14 lane expressway in Dhaka, Bangladesh. This expressway connects Purbachal to eastern Dhaka.
HRC Group is a Bangladeshi industrial conglomerate. The industries under this conglomerate include media, agriproducts, tea, real estate, finance, and shipping. The Chairperson of the group is Sayeed Hossain Chowdhury, brother of Saber Hossain Chowdhury, an Awami League member of parliament and son of entrepreneur Hedayet Hossain Chowdhury, founder of Karnaphuli Group, another Bangladeshi conglomerate.
National Tea Company Limited is a Bangladeshi state owned tea company based in Dhaka. Sheikh Kabir Hossain, a relative of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, is the chairman of the company. Mr. Syed Shahriyar Ahsan is a Director of the company. Syed is the Managing Director of Sadharan Bima Corporation of Bangladesh (SBC). He was nominated as a Director of the Company from Sadharan Bima Corporation in October 1, 2016. Chowdhury Nafeez Sarafat, chairman of Padma Bank, is a shareholder director of the company representing Finex Software Limited.
Metro Group is a Bangladeshi diversified conglomerate based in Dhaka. It is the parent company of Best Holding Limited which owns Le Meridien Dhaka.
ICB Islamic Bank is a second generation commercial Islamic Bank in Bangladesh listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange. Mr. Md. Mazibur Rahman is the managing director of ICB Islamic Bank Limited.
Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury is a retired judge of the Bangladesh High Court.
Sheikh Mohammad Wahid Uz Zaman is a retired secretary, principal secretary to the Prime Minister's Office of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, and chairman of Janata Bank.