Pirojpur NGO depositors left high and dry

A decade ago, Hasia Banu, 50, of Goalbuniya village in Pirojpur's Bhandaria upazila thought she made a wise decision when she began to save money with non-government organisation Sonali Unnayon Foundation (SUF). Along with many others she was assured that after ten years her savings would double; but ten years on, SUF is nowhere to be found.

"I deposited Tk 100 per month with SUF's Tushkhali branch every month from 2005 until 2015," Hasia explains. "A year has passed since my savings were supposed to mature but I haven't received anything."

"It's not only the doubling of the savings that I was promised," she adds. "I'm worried I won't get back the money I deposited."

Md Shahidul Islam from Dhanisafa village in Mathbaria upazila is in the same boat. He began to deposit money with SUF in 2007; but from 2015 the NGO stopped taking his funds. "Like other depositors I'm really stressed about getting my money back," he says, adding that mostly poor people, especially women, operated savings plans with the NGO.

On 16 July 2015, SUF had their microcredit licence cancelled by the Microcredit Regulatory Authority. The regulatory authority's website states the licence was cancelled due to SUF's failure to operate in a manner consistent with relevant legal provisions. Subsequently SUF closed at least four of the ten branches in the area, including those with which Hasia and Shahidul had dealings.

The total number of affected SUF savings plan subscribers could not be known.

According to SUF workers, the NGO started its activity in Mathbaria upazila in 2000. Development workers were appointed to collect money and branch managers encouraged to build an atmosphere of trust between locals and the NGO. For the next five to ten years SUF collected monthly deposits of between Tk 100 to Tk 500 from subscribers. They offered some people loans which in turn attracted more depositors.

"We offered six-month loans from savings funds and collected regular instalments," says Baby Akter, who was manager of the Tushkhali Branch of SUF. "But we sent all the money to our Dhaka office." She said SUF management ordered a halt to all savings activities last year, without providing a reason.

According to her, the Tushkhali Branch received deposits worth around Tk 12 lakhs, including deposits from some impoverished women who ran savings plans without the knowledge of their husbands.

In response to the great anxiety felt among depositors over the fate of their savings, Baby Akter went to Dhaka to speak directly with SUF management. "At the time, they promised to give the money back," she says, "but now they don't receive our phone calls."

Last month depositors from several branches, facing the same situation, formed a human chain in Mathbaria to protest the failure of SUF to either deliver on its promises or even return their money. Anger has boiled over and several former SUF development workers now live in fear.

"These days we're vulnerable," says one development worker from Tushkhali Branch, Md Khalilur Rahman Akan. "When any depositor sees us they demand their money." Khalilur admits he has paid some money back from his own pocket.

"We gave all the money collected to the NGO," he continues, "not realising they would cheat us."

SUF workers say the previous regional manager responsible for Mathbaria upazila has resigned, with the job now undertaken by a man named Awal. The Daily Star attempted to contact this individual by phone on several occasions but he refused to comment, saying he would talk to The Daily Star later.