Who are the top Bangladeshi loan defaulters?

On January 24, 2023, Bangladesh Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal disclosed in the Parliament a list of the 20 top Bangladeshi loan defaulters, revealing that the total amount of defaulted loans from these institutions is Tk16,587 crore.

The list is led by CLC Power Company Limited, who has defaulted on a loan of Tk1,640 crore, followed by Western Marine Shipyard Limited with Tk1,529 crore, and Rimex Footwear Limited with Tk1,077.63 crore.

The finance minister also informed the parliament that there are a total of 7,86,065 loan defaulters in the country.

Let’s dive deep into the top 3 defaulters: 

1. CLC Power Company Limited: This is a venture of Maisha Group. Aslamul Haque was the founder and chairman of the Maisha Group. He was a Member of Parliament from Bangladesh Awami League in 2009, 2014 and 2018. He passed away in April, 2021.

Maisha Group’s real estate venture Maisha Property Development Limited is also in the top 20 loan defaulters’ list.

Web address: https://maishagroup.com/business-units/power-sectors/clc-power-company-ltd/

2. Western Marine Shipyard Limited

Western Marine, which started the journey in 2000, gained prominence by building 150 ships in 20 years and earning remittance through exports, has now almost lost its business and plunged into a cash crisis.

The company has hardly received any domestic or foreign orders after failing to keep promises on a few international deliveries.

Captain Tareque M Nasrullah is the executive director of Western Marine Shipyard Limited.

3. Rimex Footwear Limited

According to The Business Standard (TBS), Rimex Footwear limited is owned by Abdul Aziz who is also the owner of Jaaz Multimedia and younger brother of the Crescent Group chairman, MA Kader.

Crescent Group was the second-largest defaulter of Janata Bank. On 30 January 2021, Crescent Group Chairman MA Kader was arrested in connection with the loan swindle after the ACC had filed five cases against him and 19 others. Two ventures associated with the Crescent Group – Rupali Composite Leather Ware and Crescent Leather Products – are also on the top 20 list.

According to the TBS report (October 25, 2021), Rimex Footwear defaulted on Tk1,078 crore out of Tk1,133 crore taken from Janata Bank.

Other companies on the list include Rising Steel Company Limited, Mohammad Elias Brothers (pvt) Limited, Quantum Power Systems Limited, Saad Musa Fabrics Limited, BR Spinning Mills Limited, SA Oil Refinery Limited, Radium Composite Textile Mills Limited, Samannaz Super Oil Limited, Manha Precast Technology Limited, Ashian Education Limited, SM Steel Re-rolling Mills Limited, Apollo Ispat Complex Limited, Ehsan Steel Re-rolling Limited, and Siddique Traders.