Special Correspondent: Sensational information of unlimited irregularities against BM Yusuf Ali, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Popular Life Insurance has been revealed. He has been serving as the MD of the company for 15 consecutive years without proper approval under the watchful eyes of the regulatory body Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA). At the same time, he has been serving as the director of NRB Islami Life Insurance. Which is a clear violation of Section 75 and 78 of the Insurance Act-2010. According to Orthbiz research, the regulatory body has not fulfilled any responsibility in this regard. As a result, he was encouraged to commit one irregularity after another. It is the responsibility and duty of the life department to update the MD file of any insurance company after three years as per insurance laws and regulations. The MD of an insurance company has to be re-appointed by the board of his company before the expiry of his appointment approval period and his appointment has to be approved by the regulatory body. If the regulatory body approves the appointment proposal, he can serve for another three years. And if the regulatory body does not approve the recruitment proposal, it has no chance to perform its duties. However, in the case of MD of Popular Life, there is a complete exception to this. He has been performing his duties in this way for years due to a court order. The relevant branch of the regulatory body never felt the need to look into the matter due to special reasons. BM Yusuf Ali took the opportunity to not take any action to settle the ruling of the regulatory body. It is also alleged that the concerned people of the regulatory body have personally benefited from this.
It is known that in 2007, the then Board of Directors of Popular Life Insurance Company decided to appoint BM Yusuf Ali as the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of the company. He was then the Additional Managing Director of the company. In the light of the decision taken in the board meeting of the company, an application was made to the then Directorate of Insurance by the Board of Directors seeking approval of his appointment proposal. The Directorate of Insurance after verifying all the documents and information provided with its application informed the board of directors of the company without approving the application. Aggrieved by this, BM Yusuf Ali filed a writ in the High Court against the order of the Directorate of Insurance. First, the court after hearing on 18-06-2007 issued a rule suspending the operation of the order of the Directorate of Insurance for three months. Rule asked why this order of the Directorate of Insurance will not be canceled. But no reply was given to the rule at the appropriate time. After further hearing on the writ (Writ Petition No. 4936/2008) filed in the High Court Division of the Supreme Court, the court issued another order on 25.08.2008. It said that the three-month suspension of effectivity given in the previous order will remain in force till the disposal of the rule. The order did not mention any specific time frame within which the rule should be disposed of. The ruling is given to the Directorate of Insurance. It was the responsibility of the Directorate of Insurance to apply to the court for settlement of the rule. BM Yusuf Ali is enjoying the benefits as the Directorate of Insurance and the later formed Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA) have not taken any initiative to settle the rule. It is known that BM Yusuf Ali made arrangements so that no initiative is taken to settle the rule. But the responsibility of the insurance department was to respond to the rule and make the rule vacant. The Department of Insurance has not done that work, even the Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority formed later in the light of the Insurance Act-2010 has tried to hide its mouth in the sand like a rising bird and explain that they do not know anything. But popular How the MD of Life is performing the duties of the MD without taking approval for a long time and how he is the director of NRB Islami Life at the same time even though there is no opportunity in the insurance law, the regulatory body has never taken the initiative to look into the matter. Even though it has been a long time, recently the matter came to the attention of the Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority, but the company is a bit shaken. The management led by the outgoing chairman Zainul Bari of IDRA took the initiative to take legal action against such big irregularities. Some processes are also started for that purpose. Although the work is started by protecting the top secret, everything stops at the touch of the black hand behind the screen. The news was tipped off to the insurance regulator by his beneficiaries. Then his run started. Suddenly, a national daily published a report of corruption against the chairman. The chairman felt embarrassed. BM Yusuf Ali came forward to save him from this situation. He came very close to the chairman by making an excellent protest of the published news. Tried to convince the chairman that nothing would happen if he was by his side. After this incident, the chairman remained silent for some days. In this situation, all the initiatives of the anti-corruption chairman failed.
It is known that the letter given to the Chairman of Popular Life from the Directorate of Insurance dated 11-11-2008 signed by Assistant Controller of Insurance Taher Ahmed (Memorandum No.: B.N.: 79/3/2001-1230) says that according to the court order, the Directorate Issued Memorandum No.P:B:No:79/3/2001-860 Dated 30-06-2008 AD and Memorandum No:P:B:No:21/86/2002-1117 Dated 18/6/2007 AD Insurance Act to BM Yusuf Ali by suspending until not. According to section 48C of 1938, the Chief Executive (Managing Director) of Popular Life Insurance Company Limited has been issued with conditional instructions for performance of duties. The conditions are – (a) BM Yusuf Ali cannot work in any other insurance company, institution / organization while holding the post of MD of Popular Life. (b) He or any member of his family shall not be an entrepreneurial director or adviser of any other insurer. (c) He cannot be an entrepreneurial director or chief executive of any bank or financial institution. (d) He shall be responsible for managing the Popular Life Insurance Company in accordance with the provisions of the Insurance Act, 1938, the Insurance Rules, 1958 and the Insurance Corporation Act, 1973. It is learned that the Directorate of Insurance on November 11, 2008 gave him conditional pre-approval to serve as the Chief Executive Officer of Popular Life. But he became director of NRB Islamic Life in 2021 by violating the conditions given by the Directorate of Insurance. This matter was an open secret in the insurance sector. This incident was also an open secret in the media. When an attempt was made to take the statement of BM Yusuf Ali in any media with the initiative of publishing news on this matter, he himself or on his behalf and even sometimes on behalf of the relevant branch of the regulatory agency said that he has been serving as MD and director of both insurance companies under the direction of the court. Even if there is no scope in the insurance law, there is nothing anyone can do in this case. That is not actually the case. It was the beneficiaries of BM Yusuf Ali who spoke the language taught to them. The real mystery has been revealed in Orthbiz’s investigation. The performance of the duties of the Director of NRB is contrary to the conditions mentioned in the prior approval given to him by the Directorate of Insurance and is in complete violation of the prevailing insurance laws. Despite the fact that the MD of Popular Life did not have the opportunity to be a director of any other insurance company, no action was taken against him by the regulatory body. In this regard, the organization has shown irresponsibility even in the performance of government duties. It is known that BM Yusuf Ali has been serving as CEO and MD of Popular Life for 15 consecutive years since 2008. During this period, he was not required to take prior approval from the regulatory body even for a single time. No apology was sought from him for performing his duty in this manner without the approval of the authorities. Although there has been a storm of discussion and criticism in the insurance sector, the insurance authorities have kept silent. MDs of all insurance companies are required to re-approve at the end of the prescribed period (three years), but why such an exception occurred in the case of MDs of Popular Life, is the question of many MDs in the insurance sector. There are allegations against him of stealing hundreds of crores from the company in various ways from the MD of Popular Life for a long time by creating a circle of power through the special satisfaction of the important ministers of the previous Awami League government, MP leaders and top officials of the administration. He is the president of Insurance Forum, an organization of insurance chief executives. Using this organization, he has gained all kinds of privileges by spreading influence in the regulatory body. At various times, reports of irregularities and corruption against him were published in the media, but he covered everything up with the help of the ruling party. The company has suffered a lot. The time has come to protect the interests of the company’s customers by taking appropriate measures to investigate all these complaints. Many insurance customers of Popular Life are not receiving their claims. But the management of the company is heavy administration. Almost all the top officials of the administration are close relatives of MD BM Yusuf Ali’s cousins, cousins, and influential people of the defunct Awami League government. Company MDBM Yusuf Ali, his brother Additional MDBM Shaukat Ali, DMD Nowsher Ali Naeem, Abu Taher, Abdur Razzaq and relatives have about two hundred officials and employees in the jobs given by various levels of government officials and party leaders. About two crore rupees are being spent on them every month. Allegations have been made that BM Yusuf Ali Gong embezzled a huge amount of money from the company by keeping the customer’s money in arrears. With the money of Popular Life, he became the director of a luxury house in the country and abroad and a life insurance company in the country. After the fall of the government, he is trying to cover up his past misdeeds by giving special privileges to them.
Although his own people enjoy all kinds of facilities in the company, the general officers and employees have been working for a long time on very low salaries. They are discriminated against. MD BM Yusuf Ali did not show any sympathy for them even though they were working for a meager salary and living an inhumane life. He established a dictatorial rule by establishing absolute power in the company from the top position of the company without interruption for 15 years. No one dares to move a hair beyond his words. The board of directors is also controlled by him. Even if the board chairman is on paper, everything is decided according to his will. Popular Life’s MD has been blamed by his family for the untimely death of Hasan Ahmed, former chairman of Popular Life. Hasan Ahmed’s wife has alleged that Yusuf Ali Gong’s mental torture caused his death. In this incident, Hasan Ahmed’s wife filed a case in court as the plaintiff. The case is pending. On the contrary, a case has been filed against Hasan Ahmed’s wife for harassing her. It is known that since he has been in the top position of Popular Life for a long time, he has become the sole power holder in the company. In order to retain his power, he developed friendships with various ministers, MPs, senior police officers, influential leaders of the ruling party and powerful people in the administration during the previous government. He was close to former police chiefs Shahidul Islam and Benazir Ahmed and the much-discussed controversial police officers DB Harun and Biplab. Apart from this, he was close to many influential leaders of Awami League, especially the leaders of Gopalganj. For this reason, he considered catching as a trick. Despite being a follower and leader of a different political party in order to maintain power, he joined Bangladesh Awami League in 2013. He became the leader of the district Awami League in his area Shariatpur and played a major role in managing the party activities of the district Awami League. He was a candidate for Awami League nomination in the last two parliamentary elections. For this, lobby strongly first. Although he did not get the final party nomination, he was seen participating in the election campaign on behalf of the party candidate. His two sons are leaders of Bangladesh Chhatra League. Eldest son Mahmudul Hasan (Imon) is Vice-President of Dhaka Metropolitan (South) Chhatra League and Mehdi Hasan (Nahid) Legal Affairs Secretary of Dhaka Metropolitan (South) Chhatra League. He spends huge amount of money on party political activities. Apart from this, huge amounts of money were donated in the name of social activities to maintain various lobbying. The company has become financially weak due to spending money in this way. Unable to pay customer claims on time. Even though their own people get financial benefits in various ways, others have been discriminated against for a long time. Even if they work for a long time with very low salary, they do not get any increase in salary or even promotion. Because of this, there has been a lot of anger and dissatisfaction among the officials and employees in the company for a long time. The company’s customers have to wait for months to get their insurance claims. After Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country on August 5 in the popular uprising caused by the students’ movement, she also continued to change along with the change in the political landscape. Now leaving Awami League, BNP and Jamaat have started sitting with people from Gharona. Even trying to get close to important people in the newly formed interim government.
Recently, he gave a job with more benefits to a relative of a political leader to strengthen his status. The salary of a relative of an influential official has been increased by 30 thousand rupees in two phases within a short span of time. To cover up the ACC case, a relative of an ACC official was promoted from a junior officer first to a senior GM and after a political pot change, he was again promoted to the post of DMD. Two officials of the defunct Directorate of Insurance, who played a special role in providing special benefits to BM Yusuf Ali, were later awarded in retirement. One of them got a job as a senior consultant in Popular Life and another as a consultant in NRB Islami Life. According to the prominent people of the insurance sector, BM Yusuf Ali has been doing various irregularities for a long time due to political influence. Now the situation is different. The student society started a movement on the streets against long-standing irregularities and corruption. In that movement, common people also got involved in one step. The dictatorial government was overthrown in a popular uprising. Now reforms are going on everywhere. Insurance sector also needs reforms. Experts in the insurance sector expect that the Insurance Regulatory Authority will take strict steps to ensure transparency by removing all the irregularities in Popular Life.
