Ctg court freezes S Alam assets
Staff Reporter :
A money loan court in Chattogram has ordered the seizure of assets belonging to S Alam Group and its key subsidiaries to recover a massive defaulted loan of Tk10,280 crore from Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd’s Khatunganj branch.
The order, issued on Tuesday by Judge Md Helal Uddin of Artha Rin Adalat-1, includes the confiscation of land, buildings, shares, bank accounts, and other commercial assets tied to the conglomerate and its top officials.
According to court documents, the move targets various properties including a four-storey commercial building in Dhaka’s Motijheel area and a total of 5 kathas and 9.90 decimals of land owned by Farzana Parvin, chairperson of S Alam Vegetable Oil Ltd. These assets were reportedly acquired on 13 August 2023.
The court has also frozen shares valued at over Tk175 crore – including Tk58.21 crore worth of shares in SS Power Ltd and Tk117.75 crore in Sonali Cardo Logistic Ltd.
In one of the most sweeping parts of the order, the court directed the seizure of 31,251.70 decimals of land, structures, raw materials, and industrial equipment situated in the Gondamara and Alokdia mouzas of Banshkhali upazila in Chattogram.
These properties are linked to S Alam Cement, S Alam Vegetable Oil, and Sonali Cardo Logistic Ltd all subsidiaries of S Alam Group.
Three high-value MSND (monthly savings) accounts of SS Power Ltd maintained at a Gulshan Circle-1 bank branch have also been frozen. These accounts reportedly hold Tk102.39 crore, Tk35.85 crore, and Tk778.31 respectively.
The legal proceedings began on 22 June, when Islami Bank’s Khatunganj branch filed a case to recover the defaulted loan. Named as defendants are Shahidul Alam, Managing Director of S Alam Vegetable Oil Ltd; its Chairperson Farzana Parvin; S Alam Group Chairman Mohammad Saiful Alam; and shareholders Abdus Samad, Mohammad Abdullah Hasan, Osman Gani, Md Rashedul Alam, and Ehsanul Alam.
The case marks one of the largest default loan recovery efforts in recent memory and could have far-reaching implications for the group’s sprawling business empire.