ACC moves to freeze 8 closed S Alam entities' bank accounts, Janata auctions more land
On 24 December, S Alam Group announced the closure of eight factories in Chattogram
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has issued a letter to freeze the bank accounts operated under the names of eight recently closed enterprises of controversial business conglomerate S Alam Group.
A senior ACC official told TBS that the anti-corruption watchdog sent the letter to the general manager of the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit today.
Meanwhile, state-owned Janata Bank has put 2,971 decimals of land from S Alam Refined Sugar Industries Limited, a company of the controversial S Alam Group, up for auction to recover outstanding loans.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
Announcing the land auction through a public notice, Janata Bank stated it is owed Tk1,777 crore by S Alam Refined Sugar. The loan was taken from the Sadharan Bima Bhaban Corporate Branch of the bank in Chattogram.
On 24 December, the authorities announced the closure of eight factories of S Alam Group in Chattogram.
The factories are sugar processing plant S Alam Refined Sugar Industries; steel processing plants S Alam Cold Rolled Steels and Infinity CR Strips Industries; corrugated iron and steel product manufacturing units S Alam Steel, S Alam Cold Rolled Steels Limited, Cheman Steel, and Galco Steel; and the bag manufacturing plant S Alam Bag Limited.
These establishments have remained closed since 25 December.
According to officials familiar with the matter, the ACC move comes to stop any possible fund transfer from the accounts under the names of these eight entities of S Alam Group.
The ACC is investigating allegations of laundering $1 billion against S Alam Group Chairman Mohammed Saiful Alam and his family members to Singapore, the British Virgin Islands, Cyprus, and other countries.
On 19 December, a court ordered the freezing of 125 bank accounts belonging to the S Alam Group chairman and his family members. These accounts hold a total of Tk22 crore 65 lakh 49 thousand 190. Withdrawals are prohibited from these accounts, but deposits are still allowed.
Land up for auction
According to Janata Bank, nearly the entire loan of around Tk10,000 crore taken by the S Alam Group from it has become non-performing. As a result, it is auctioning the land mortgaged against each of these loans, one after another.
Previously, the bank auctioned land belonging to the S Alam Group to recover defaulted loans. On 20 November, 1,860 decimals of land were auctioned to recover a defaulted loan of Tk1,850 crore. This loan was owed by the group's affiliate, Global Trading Corporation Limited. The loan was taken from the same branch of the bank, where the auction was held.
According to sources from Janata Bank, S Alam Group has been a customer of the bank since 2004. The group has taken more than 80% of the loans provided by the bank's Sadharan Bima Bhaban Corporate Branch in Chattogram.
Against a total loan of Tk10,100 crore, the bank holds mortgaged land and properties worth Tk2,749 crore. This means that even if these lands and properties are sold, Janata Bank will not be able to recover the full amount.
To recover the dues, the bank filed a loan default case on 1 December at the Chattogram Money Loan Court.
In this case, the court has issued summons against 10 individuals, including S Alam Group's chairman, Md Saiful Alam, his wife, five siblings, his brother's wife, and one director of the group.
During the ousted Awami League government, seven banks – Islami Bank, Al-Arafah Islami Bank, Social Islami Bank, First Security Islami Bank, Global Islami Bank, Union Bank, and Bangladesh Commerce Bank – were under the control of the S Alam Group.
It is alleged that S Alam Group withdrew at least Tk1.5 lakh crore from these banks and various other institutions, most of which has been siphoned off abroad.
