Staff Reporter :
State-owned Janata Bank has announced the auction of land owned by S Alam Refined Sugar Industries, a subsidiary of the controversial S Alam Group, to recover outstanding loans.
In a public notice, Janata Bank disclosed that S Alam Refined Sugar owes Tk1,777 crore to its Sadharan Bima Bhaban Corporate Branch in Chattogram. To recover the dues, the bank has put 2,971 decimals of mortgaged land up for auction.
Nearly the entire Tk10,000 crore in loans taken by the S Alam Group from Janata Bank has reportedly become non-performing. As part of its recovery efforts, the bank has been auctioning mortgaged properties associated with these loans.
On 20 November, the bank auctioned 1,860 decimals of land belonging to another affiliate, Global Trading Corporation Limited, to recover Tk1,850 crore in defaulted loans.
Sources from Janata Bank revealed that the S Alam Group has been a customer since 2004 and has taken over 80% of the loans disbursed by the bank’s Sadharan Bima Bhaban Corporate Branch.
Out of a total loan of Tk10,100 crore, the bank holds mortgaged properties valued at Tk2,749 crore, significantly less than the outstanding amount. Even with the sale of these assets, Janata Bank is unlikely to recover the full debt.
To expedite recovery, the bank filed a loan default case on 1 December at the Chattogram Money Loan Court, which has issued summons against 10 individuals, including the chairman of S Alam Group, Md Saiful Alam, his wife, five siblings, his brother’s wife, and a director of the group.
During the tenure of the ousted Awami League government, the S Alam Group reportedly exercised control over seven banks: Islami Bank, Al-Arafah Islami Bank, Social Islami Bank, First Security Islami Bank, Global Islami Bank, Union Bank, and Bangladesh Commerce Bank.
It is alleged that the group siphoned off at least Tk1.5 lakh crore from these banks and other institutions to foreign destinations.
The S Alam Group has recently shut down eight factories, including those producing sugar, steel, and bags, citing its inability to import raw materials due to a lack of banking cooperation.
