S Alam, brothers summoned for defaulting Tk1,963cr Janata Bank loan
A money loan court in Chattogram today (1 December) issued summons against 10 people, including S Alam Group Chairman M Saiful Alam and his five brothers, for defaulting on Tk1,963 crore owed to Janata Bank.
The court also imposed a ban on the transfer of 4.96 crore shares of First Security Islami Bank and 2.46 crore shares of Al-Arafah Islami Bank held by S Alam and his brother Abdus Samad, respectively.
Rezaul Karim, a bench assistant at the court, told The Business Standard, "The court also issued a rule asking why the shares held in the two banks by two top bosses of S Alam Group should not be confiscated."
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Judge Mujahidur Rahman passed the orders after the state-owned lender filed a loan default case against Global Trading Corporation, a subsidiary of the Chattogram-based controversial conglomerate.
In addition to Global Trading Corporation, 13 other companies belonging to S Alam Group were named as defendants in the case.
The other defendants include S Alam's wife Farzana Parvin; his brothers Rashedul Alam, Abdullah Hasan, Osman Gani, and Shahidul Alam; his sister-in-law Shahana Ferdous; as well as Global Trading Corporation Chairman Abdus Sabur and Director Mishkat Ahmed.
According to case documents, in 2010, Global Trading Corporation borrowed $270 million (Tk270 crore) from Janata Bank's Sadharan Bima branch to import consumer goods.
The loan, which was supposed to be repaid by the end of that year, has remained unpaid for the past 15 years. Instead, the loan and interest have increased yearly, now amounting to more than Tk 1,963 crore.
The documents also revealed that the bank rescheduled the loan multiple times over the years. However, when a proposal to reschedule the loan was submitted again in September this year, the Bangladesh Bank rejected it.
Janata Bank Deputy General Manager and Sadharan Bima Branch In-Charge Badal Kanti Das said S Alam Group has mortgaged 1,860 decimals of land in Chattogram and Gazipur against the loan, with a maximum value of Tk358 crore. Since this amount is insufficient to recover the defaulted loan, the case was filed to recover the remaining dues.
On 1 November, the bank put up Global Trading Corporation's property for auction for failing to repay the loan on time.
