JAJ Bhuiyan Group withdrew Tk 1,210 crore through the little-known Jakia Group, alongside its Tk 1,090 crore loans from Agrani Bank, to bypass the Bangladesh Bank鈥檚 single borrower exposure limit.
All loans have defaulted, making JAJ Bhuiyan the largest defaulter at Agrani Bank.
Owners of JAJ Bhuiyan and Jakia groups are relatives, with JAJ Bhuiyan as the ultimate beneficiary.
Mohammad Fayazur Rahman Bhuiyan and his wife Moriom Akter own JAJ Bhuiyan Group, while Moriom鈥檚 brother Johirul Haque Bhuiyan and Habibur Rahman Bhuiyan own Jakia Group.
Several top businesses stated that they had never heard of Jakia Group. Despite this lack of recognition, Agrani Bank approved significant loans to the little-known entity.
The groups have defaulted on loan repayments since 2014, rescheduling loans multiple times without regular repayment.
Despite this, Agrani Bank refrained from declaring them defaulters and continued increasing their loan limits ignoring BB鈥檚 red flag, allegedly due to their ties to the Awami League government.
The group managed to take the loans to such extensive level without repayments with the help of a deputy press secretary of Sheikh Hasina and a Chhatra League-affiliated employee in Agrani Bank鈥檚 public relations department.
In spite of having such bad records, the bank granted Tk 80 crore incentive loans under special consideration.
Mohammad Fayazur Rahman Bhuiyan couldn鈥檛 be reached over phone for comments.
Agrani Bank chairman Syed Abu Naser Bukhtear Ahmed told 抖阴精品 that the two groups are actually the same and JAJ Bhuiyan took responsibilities of Jakia group loans.
He suspected that JAJ Bhuiyan Group used Jakia Group to bypass Bangladesh Bank鈥檚 single borrower exposure limit rules.
Abu Naser acknowledged that the loans were backed by minimal collateral. He stated that the groups had pledged to regularize their loans by making a 2 per cent down payment in line with Bangladesh Bank regulations.
If they fail to follow through, the bank will take actions to recover the bad loans, he added.
The top 10 defaulters accounted for Tk 6,600 crore in classified loans, nearly 31 per cent of the Agrani Bank鈥檚 total defaulted loans as of June, according to bank data.
Apart from JAJ Bhuiyan and Jakia, Tanaka Group became defaulted with Tk 926 crore and Sattar Group with Tk 550 crore, Moon Group Tk 524 crore, Sonali Group Tk 521 crore, Aristocrat Group Tk 462 crore, Dhaka Hide & Skins Tk 457 crore, Pacific Group Tk 443 crore and Saad Musa Fabrics Tk 410 crore.
Agrani Bank鈥檚 total non-performing loans soared to Tk 26,891 crore in September from Tk 21,324 crore in June, reflecting a deepening crisis.
Bank officials said that influential groups, mainly affiliated with the Awami League, had dominated the bank and were now failing to repay their loans. This has led to a sharp deterioration in key financial indicators, including the NPL ratio, they said.
As of September, over 35 per cent of Agrani Bank鈥檚 total loan disbursements of Tk 75,677 crore were classified as defaulted.
The bank鈥檚 total deposits reached Tk 96,928 crore during the same period.