Seventy-eight companies of Beximco Group have more than Tk 500 billion in liabilities to 16 banks and seven financial institutions as of 30 November this year.
A lawyer of Bangladesh Bank disclosed this during the hearing of a rule on a petition by a High Court bench on Sunday. The High Court bench of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Debasish Roy fixed 22 January for the next hearing.
Lawyer Muniruzzaman represented the Bangladesh Bank at the court while senior lawyer Fida M Kamal and lawyer Anisul Hasan represented Beximco Pharmaceuticals. Senior lawyer Masud R Sobhan and deputy attorney general Md Asad Uddin stood for the petitioner and the state respectively.
Lawyer Muniruzzaman said they presented the data of Bangladesh Bank to the court. He told Prothom Alo, “78 eight companies of Beximco Group has Tk 500.98 billion in liabilities to 16 banks and seven financial institutions, and Tk 310.76 billion of those are classified loans. Various banks including Sonali Bank, Janata Bank, IFIC Bank provided these credit facilities to 78 companies of Beximco violating laws and banking traditions. These facilities include loans, rescheduling, loan term extension, additional loans and LC (letter of credit) facilities. Janata Bank provided credit facilities to Beximco 20 times more than the ceiling set for a single company. Beximco received about 50 per cent of its loans from Janata Bank alone.”
Earlier on 4 September, Supreme Court senior lawyer Masud R Sobhan filed a writ petition at the High Court on a list of issues including loan write-off to various companies including Beximco Pharmaceuticals over the past 25 years.
On 5 September, the High Court heard the plea. The top court issued a rule directing Bangladesh Bank to attach all the properties of Beximco Group and appoint a receiver for six months to manage them.
Later, on behalf of the Beximco Pharmaceuticals Ltd. a leave to appeal plea was made with the Appellate Division seeking a stay order on the High Court verdict to appoint a “receiver” to conduct the functions of the Beximco Group of Companies.
According to the court’s order, Salman F Rahman’s Beximco Group has been instructed to appoint a receiver to attach all the group’s assets. The receiver is also tasked with providing information on the current status and payment of loans in all the Group’s affiliated businesses.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Bank appointed a ‘receiver’ for the leading industrial group, Beximco Group. The receiver’s role will be to ensure proper management of all the institutions under the group. In line with a High Court order, Ruhul Amin, Executive Director of the Central Bank, has been appointed as the receiver.