-Illegally loaned Tk thousand crores from one branch
-S Alam Group has also taken loan from Janata Bank
The state-owned Janata Bank has carried out the loan disbursement festival amid the crisis in the country's financial sector. Of this, a branch of the bank owes Tk 1 thousand 215 crore 16 lakhs from the much-discussed S Alam Group.
After the fall of the Awami League-led government on August 5, there has been a strong demand to dissolve the board of directors of all state-owned banks including Janata Bank and remove the MDs. Janata Bank gave more than Tk 10 thousand crore loan to S Alam Group in violation of Banking Act. Out of that loan, S Alam Group defaulted on Tk 1 thousand 215 crore 16 lakh from General Insurance Corporation branch of Janata Bank in Chattogram. This is a clear violation of banking laws. This information was known after reviewing the last financial report of the bank given to Bangladesh Bank last February. At that time, Janata Bank told the central bank that it could not recover even a single Tk of the loan given to some groups of leaders supported by the Awami League government, including the S Alam group.
With the special approval of the Central Bank, S Alam Group regularly shows defaulted loans by extending the term for many years. According to the Bank Act, where a maximum of 25 percent (Tk 578 crore) of the capital can be given to a single group, S Alam Group has not repaid the loan even though it was incurred against the import of goods in violation of the rules. The newly resigned Bangladesh Bank Governor Abdur Rauf Talukder decided to extend the loan period. However, the central bank has decided not to give this illegal facility as there is no more pressure. As a result, the whole has become a default.
According to 26(b)(1) of the Bank Companies Act, a bank can give a maximum of 15 percent funded and 10 percent non-funded loans of its capital to a single person, institution or group. And group refers to individuals, institutions, companies directly or indirectly associated with a borrower. The paid up capital of Janata Bank was Tk 2 thousand 314 crore till last June. This means that Janata Bank can give a maximum of Tk 578 crore 50 lakh to a single group, both funded and non-funded. But Tk 1 thousand 685 crore 73 lakh was given to S Alam group only from one branch of Janata Bank. However, the board of directors of Janata Bank decided on June 25 for new facilities.
Janata Bank's Managing Director (MD) Md Abdul Jabbar made multiple phone calls and sent SMS to his WhatsApp number, but no response was received.
Bangladesh Bank spokesperson Md Majbaul Haque told The Daily Post, "I can talk to the concerned department (DOS) about the loan of S Alam Group to know whether this type of loan will be stopped." I can't say anything about it before that.
Bangladesh Bank has prepared a report after reviewing Janata Bank's application. From that report, it was known that if Janata Bank approves the loan renewal of S Alam Group, the total loan facility will be Tk 10 thousand 449 crore. This is 451.57 percent of the capital of the bank. Forced debt has been created through repeated Payment Against Documents (PADs) due to payment of debts from banks. In this situation, there is no opportunity to renew the loan.
Sheikh Hasina's government collapsed on August 5 in a mass protest by students. Sheikh Hasina fled the country at noon that day. Governor Abdur Rauf Talukder resigned last Friday while on the run. In the face of protests by Bangladesh Bank officials, four deputy governors, an advisor to the central bank and the top 6 officials including the head of BFIU, have resigned from the central bank. It was known that from now on no one will get any illegal benefits.
An executive director of the central bank said that since 2016, "special consideration" has been imposed on the banks by not paying off the loans even though the influential have the ability to repay the loans, regardless of any law. Not only increasing the limit year after year but also paying the interest. Again, as the loan is regular, the bank is also able to take interest income. He said that the importer is supposed to redeem the goods by paying all the dues to the bank. If for some reason you can't pay then the product is supposed to be sold. But in this case, it was not done. Now the thing to be seen is whether the money of sale of goods has been laundered. The matter is being verified.
The senior officials of Janata Bank said that they are not able to collect the loan properly due to the illegal facility provided by Bangladesh Bank in the name of special approval. The health of the bank is being shown by the regular showing of non-performing loans only in the paper. The depositor is being put at risk by breaking the law by putting both the bank and the borrower at an advantage. On June 25 this year, Janata Bank's Board of Directors meeting decided to reschedule and renew S Alam Group's loan. In this case, Tk 1 thousand 215 crore 16 lakh was taken from a branch of Janata Bank in the name of S Alam Refined Sugar Ind. Ltd., S Alam Trading Company, S Alam Vegetable Oil, and Global Trading.
Besides, S Alam Group has taken Tk 630 crore in the name of S Alam Super Edible Oil and S Alam Cold Rolled Steel. The Board of Janata Bank approved the re-registration of a total of Tk 1,845 crores of six institutions for four years. On the same day, a renewal proposal of Tk 3,900 crore as working capital up to December 2025 was approved. Janata Bank sent a letter to the central bank on June 30 for no objection to this proposal. However, the deputy governor Khurshid Alam, who was in charge of the former governor Abdur Rauf Talukdar, quickly ordered the concerned department to send the above in the form of a note. This type of file is prepared according to the above instructions.
It should be noted that the central bank has issued new rules for lending to 7 banks under the authority of Chattogram-based S Alam Group and 2 banks in extreme financial distress. Last week Islami Bank blocked S Alam Group's benami loan of Tk 848 crore. Again these banks are not waiving any loans of the group. It was learned that 9 banks have been instructed not to present or clear checks worth more than Tk 1 crore to other banks.
ZH
