Meera Agro’s listing hits a snag
In a strange turn of event, Pinaki & Company, one among the oldest auditor in Bangladesh, sent out a denial that it had audited the record of Meera Agro Inputs attached with the draft prospectus to boost Tk 5 crore from the tiny capital board of the Dhaka stock market .
Meera Agro was within the right direction|not off course"> on track to issuing 50 lakh common stock in the half-moon of this year to boost funds for exploitation , modernisation and expansion of existing projects and meet capital demand.
“Our former Chattogram branch office’s pad may are utilized in the audit report. However, our Chattogram office was closed on December of 2014 and practicing certificate of the concerned branch office partner Narayan Roy was cancelled,” said the auditor during a letter to the DSE and therefore the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission on January 28.
The Daily Star obtained a replica of the letter and therefore the draft prospectus.
“Narayan Roy was our partner once upon a time,” Pinaki Das, senior partner of Pinaki & Company, told The Daily Star yesterday
However, Roy isn't allowed to conduct any audit under the name of Pinaki & Company since December 14, 2014.
But it appears that he's still using the letterhead and signing off on audit reports.
“This is against the law . ICAB now can take steps against the Roy,” Das added.
Contacted, Muhammad Farooq, president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh, said he's not conscious of the difficulty yet.
“I am getting to take the knowledge now and that we will certainly take steps against false auditing,” he added.
In the draft prospectus of Meera Agro, a mobile number was given within the letterhead of Pinaki & Company.
One Afsar Ul Haque received the phone and said he's not connected with Pinaki & Company. But he admitted advising Meera Agro to appoint the auditor.
“I don’t know why my mobile number was given within the letterhead of Pinaki & Company.”
Asked if he was aware that Narayan Roy was not a neighborhood of the auditor, he said: “This isn't known within the market.”
One of the highest official of the DSE said the stock market has informed the difficulty manager of Meera Agro, AAA Finance & Investment. “We are taking steps within our limits,” he said preferring anonymity.
Mohammad Obaydur Rahman, director and chief military officer of AAA Finance & Investment, pointed the finger of blame at the authorities concerned.
The issuer has appointed Narayan Roy without knowing that he was running a fraud firm on the name of Pinaki & Company. “Actually, it's tough for alittle company to understand who may be a fraud and who isn't .”
Just after being informed of the difficulty , AAA Finance & Investment has withdrawn the appliance of qualified investor offering.
“We know that it's totally illegal. How a false auditor auditing reports and none is taking steps against him? Is there nobody to prevent such fraud auditors?”
Rahman said now they're assigning another auditor and can resubmit the draft prospectus, which goes to be costly for them too.
“This may be a surprise to us,” said Syed Abdullah-Al Mamun, director of Meera Agro, adding that the seed producer didn't appoint the audit firm.
The episode are often viewed as a foot note within the long list of irregularities centring the stock exchange , which is now battling a nasty rap.
“This is how investors’ confidence within the market plummets,” said Abdul Mannan, a stock investor.
Auditors should be in charge of their works.
“A fraud auditor is functioning but none is taking steps against him. this is often not good sign for the country,” he added.
Mohammad Mohiuddin Ahmed, executive of monetary Reports Monitoring Division at Financial Reporting Council (FRC), said he will check the difficulty but he cannot take any punitive action.
“[Roy] may be a commoner -- he's not an auditor. I can only punish the corporate .”
But even then, FRC isn't yet authorised to require actions against the businesses .
FRC was established in 2016 by the govt under the Financial Reporting Act with the view to making sure transparency within the financial reports of listed and non-listed companies.
“The DSE and BSEC can punish both the difficulty manager and therefore the company,” Ahmed added.
Contacted, Saifur Rahman, spokesperson of the BSEC, passed on the responsibility of handing out punishment to the DSE.
“As the auditor wrote the letter to the DSE, the stock market should do something first. If the DSE refers the difficulty to us we'll take steps,” said Rahman, who is additionally executive of the BSEC.
