Jumba Bangla Desk: Janata Bank has announced to auction the collateral property of Global Trading Corporation Limited, one of the subsidiaries of the group, to recover the defaulted loan of Tk 1,850 crore from S Alam Group.
Amid allegations of misappropriation of crores of rupees by the S Alam Group through loans from various banks in the last 15 years, steps have been taken to auction the mortgaged assets of one of the group's companies for the first time.
Janata Bank has announced the date of auction on November 1 by publishing a notice regarding the auction in the newspaper on November 1.
According to the bank's internal information, 1860 percent of S Alam Group's land in Chittagong and Gazipur has been mortgaged against this loan, the maximum market value of which is Tk 358 crore. This price is almost five times less than the amount owed.
Janata Bank said that it is not possible to fully recover the defaulted debt by selling this property. Further legal action may be required to recover the outstanding balance. According to section 12(3) of the Debt Court Act, the money can be recovered by selling the collateral property before the bank files a case.
According to an audit report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of Bangladesh in 2021, the Global Trading Corporation has taken additional loans beyond the credit limit without following the guidelines of Bangladesh Bank.
According to S Alam Group's website, the global trading corporation established in 2012 was engaged in trading of industrial raw materials, commercial products and construction materials.
According to the report, in 2012, Global Trading Corporation initially took a loan of Tk 650 crore from Janata Bank's Chittagong corporate branch located in General Insurance Building.
This loan reaches a total of one thousand 70 crore 65 lakh taka with interest till 2021. Out of this, Tk 617.47 crore is PAD (Payment Against Document), Tk 223.18 crore is LTR (Trust Receipt) loan and Tk 229.99 crore is CC hypo loan.
The amount of loan with interest increased to 1 thousand 850 crores in September 2024.
Janata Bank Chittagong Corporate Branch Assistant General Manager (AGM) Badal Kanti Das confirmed the decision to auction the bank's mortgaged land.
He said the bank has put up bank signboards on the lands to deter trespassers and inform about the upcoming auction. If no bidder is found on the appointed day of the auction, Janata Bank will approach the court to take possession of the property from the bank.
He said the bank may take additional legal steps to collect dues from Global Trading Corporation and other assets of the S Alam Group to raise the total outstanding loan amount.
S Alam Group Deputy General Manager (DGM) Mohammad Moniruzzaman said that nothing is known about this. He suggested talking to the phone number of a Global Trading Corporation official named Mubin, but the number was switched off.
When contacted, Delwar Hossain, General Manager (GM) of S Alam Group, said that the matter is outside his scope of work.
Mohammad Saiful Alam Masood (S Alam) is the Chairman and Managing Director of S Alam Group Global Trading Corporation Limited. This Chittagong-based company conducts trading activities in power and gas. A travel ban has been imposed on S Alam and his family. But they are believed to be outside the country.
Source: The Business Standard
