Court orders fugitive Ctg businessman to repay Tk133 crore in loan default case

A Chattogram court ordered Ashikur Rahman Lashkar Maheen, an entrepreneur in the port city's shipbreaking industry, to repay Tk133 crore in a loan default case.

Judge Mujahidur Rahman of Chattogram Money Loan Court gave this order on Monday in the loan default case filed by the Mercantile Bank Agrabad branch.

Confirming the matter, the court's bench assistant Rezaul Karim said the case was filed against Maheen on 31 July last year.

Despite receiving multiple court orders to appear, Maheen did not attend the hearings. He subsequently requested permission from the court to appear remotely from Canada, but this request was denied. Instead, the court has directed him to repay the loan.

The case includes three other defendants: Maheen's father, Atiqur Rahman Laskar; mother, Shamsun Nahar Laskar; and wife, Rubaiya Laskar. The parents and wife served as mortgagors and grantors of the loan, respectively.

According to Mercantile Bank sources, Maheen took his first loan from the bank in 2011. Later, he secured another loan in 2017 for importing scrap ship. But he left the country in March last year without repaying the loan.

Mesbah Uddin Ahmed, manager of Mercantile Bank Agrabad branch, said Maheen Enterprise has mortgaged the shipyard's land along with three buildings in Khulshi city area as collateral against the loan. 

"Following the verdict, the loan amount will be settled by auctioning this property," he added.

Maheen also obtained a Tk1,226 crore from AB Bank Agrabad branch, Tk175 crore loan from National Bank's Khatunganj branch, Tk185 crore from Dhaka Bank's Agrabad branch, Tk100 crore from Agrani Bank's Laldighi branch, Tk29 crore from Premier Bank's Pahartali branch, and Tk24 crore from IFIC Bank's Agrabad branch.

These loans were taken in the names of Maheen Enterprises, Grand Trading Enterprises, ARL Shipbreaking, and ARL Garments, according to Maheen's creditors.