7 banks in dark for Tk 36,000 cr Beximco loan

Zarif Mahmud: Seven banks are in serious uncertainty over Tk 36,000 crore loan of Beximco Group, owned by former prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s private industry and investment adviser Salman F. Rahman. It has borrowed from seven public and private banks. Most of these loans are taken without adequate collateral. Again, despite not repaying the loan for years, it remains default-free with rescheduling and restructuring facilities.
Those concerned said that the institutions of Beximco group have been given such benefits due to political considerations. They said that in the last 15.5 years of the Awami League government, various influential people have taken out loans from the bank. Salman F Rahman is one of them. Loans are taken from banks by using political influence. No rules were followed to withdraw this money. Besides, adequate security was not kept. Bangladesh Bank was silent even knowing this. So, these loans now pose a risk. Most loans carry default risk.
Huge amount of loan from Janata Bank: It is found that Beximco Group has taken the largest number of nominal loans from the state-owned Janata Bank. Most of the loans in this bank were anonymous. Until now, Janata Bank was showing Tk 10,000 crore loan in his name. However, recently, in the report of Bangladesh Bank, the information of funded and non-funded loans of Tk 21,681 crores in its 29 institutions came out.
According to the annual report of Janata Bank at the end of last year 2023, the loan status of Salman F Rahman’s two institutions in the bank stands at Tk 23,070 crores. Of this, Beximco Group has Tk 20,752 crores, of which Tk 20,208 crores are funded and Tk 544 crores are non-funded. And Beximco Limited has a funded debt of Tk 1,994 crore and non-funded Tk 324 crore.
According to the rules of Bangladesh Bank, there is no rule to lend more than 25 percent of the capital (funded and non-funded) to a single customer. However, Janata Bank has given a loan facility of 949.78 percent of the bank’s capital to one group.
Unnamed loan of Salman F Rahman is a large amount from his own IFIC bank. According to the report, non-funded Tk 120 crore in the name of Sripur Township Institution, Tk 615 crore in the name of Sunstar Business, Tk 614 crore in the name of Fareast Business, Tk 612 crore in the name of Cosmos Commodities Limited, Tk 455 crore in the name of Apollo Trade International Ltd, Tk 449 crore in the name of Ultron Trading Limited, Tk 421 crores in the name of Northstone Construction and Engineering Limited, Tk 569 crores in the name of Alpha Enterprises Limited and Tk 463 crores in the name of Absolute Construction and Engineering Limited. Most of these institutions are anonymous.
Not left out of National Bank: Salman F Rahman withdrew money anonymously from the private sector National Bank. These loans from National Bank are many years back. However, he remains regular without paying any money.
It is known that National Bank has taken a funded loan of Tk 836 crore in favor of Bloom Success International Limited, Tk 823 crore funded in favor of Beximco Group, Tk 1,234 crore funded in favor of Beximco LPG Unit 1 and 2 and non-funded Tk 59 crore.
Long-term loans to Sonali, Agrani and Rupali Banks: Apart from taking huge loans from Janata Bank, three other state-owned banks were also not left out. According to the information, Beximco Limited has funded Tk 663 crore from Agrani Bank, Beximco Pharmaceuticals Ltd has taken funded Tk 375 crore and Beximco Communication Ltd has taken funded Tk 300 crore and non-funded Tk 71 crore. Beximco Limited has a loan of Tk 965 crore from Rupali Bank. Besides, Beximco Group has Tk 1,838 crore in Sonali Bank. Out of this, the restructured debt is Tk 1,461 crore. These loans remain regular even after non-payment. However, if the two installments of the restructured loan are not paid, the loan will be defaulted.
Salman F Rahman has four institutional loans in AB Bank. All loans are restructured. The loan of this bank has not been paid for years. The loans were restructured in 2015. At present, the debt status of four institutions stands at Tk 605 crores. Tk 120 crore of Beximco Ltd. The same company has another loan of Tk 55 crore. Besides, Tk 83 crores of International Knitwear and Apparels and Tk 345 crores of New Dhaka Industries.
Bankers said that in giving any loan, the cash flow of the concerned customer is taken into consideration along with collateral. Basically, it looks at how the loan will be repaid or whether there is cash flow as a repayment mechanism. Then the necessary collateral security is taken against that loan. However, the issue of subsidiary collateral is more applicable to people who are not known. And all the adults are so eager to give loans that there is no opportunity to ask for collateral. In this case, there is more apprehension about getting these loans back.
Managing Director (MD) of a few banks, who did not wish to be named, said that Salman F Rahman was so politically influential that even if the installments were not paid, they could not be told anything. Bangladesh Bank was also silent. Therefore, these debts have remained uncollected for a long time. Most of these loans are defaulted. As the loans are given without adequate collateral, there is concern about the recovery of this money.
They also said that the government has changed if it confiscates the property. Then even some money can be recovered. Therefore, the government should look into these loans. It should be noted that former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s adviser on private industry and investment, Salman F. Rahman, has been arrested. A team of Dhaka Metropolitan Police arrested them from the capital’s Sadarghat area last Tuesday. He is accused of unprecedented corruption, looting, fraud and money laundering in the financial sector in the last 15 years.