3 Nurjahan Group officials sentenced to 5 months of civil prison on loan default charges
They owe Janata Bank more than Tk325 crore
A Chattogram court has sentenced three officials of Nurjahan Group, a Chattogram-based conglomerate, to five months of civil prison on loan default charges.
Chattogram Finance and Credit Court Judge Mujahidur Rahman issued the order Wednesday in a case filed by Janata Bank against a defaulted loan of more than Tk325 crore.
The three officials are Chairman and Managing Director of the group Zahir Ahammed, Director Tipu Sultan and Farhad Monwar.
According to the case dockets, Janata Bank's Laldighi branch filed a case against the debtors in the Chattogram Finance and Credit Court on 6 August 2019. The court granted the defendants a five-month detention order on Wednesday after the plaintiff bank applied for an arrest warrant against them.
Earlier in 2013, Janata Bank's Laldighi branch had filed a case against Jasmir Vegetable Oils Limited, a subsidiary of Nurjahan Group, for a debt of more than Tk325 crore. The case was decided on 17 February 2019 in favour of the bank.
Janata Bank authorities filed the current case in August 2019 for non-payment of the same amount within 60 days of the verdict. The bank reportedly had no property mortgage against the loan. The court, therefore, issued a direct arrest and civil detention order against the Nurjahan Group officials as per the provisions of section 34(10) of the Money Lending Court Act.
At the same time, the court ordered the issuance of warrants against the defendants.