Janata Bank goes tough on loan defaulters

The state-owned Janata Bank has taken a strict stance against the loan defaulters to strengthen its debt collection efforts.

Thanks to the strict legal action taken by the state-run banks, several wilful defaulters have already been arrested.

According to court and bank sources, Yusuf Tannery took a loan of Tk 178.9 million from Janata Bank in 1984. Later, the loan became defaulted in 2007.

In 2015, Janata Bank waived a total of Tk 224.8 million in interest after Yusuf Tannery applied for an interest waiver. Despite getting this opportunity, Yusuf Tannery failed to pay Tk 111.4 million.

Later, they applied for an interest waiver again and Janata Bank gave them an interest waiver in 2021. This time too, Yusuf Tannery was wasting time by not paying the loan. At some point, the principal and interest amount stood at Tk 472.3 million.

Sources said no response was received from the borrower even after repeated attempts made by the bank to realise the loan. Later, the bank authorities filed a case (No. 438/2020) in the Money Loan Court to recover its debt.

The court reviewed the documents of the case and issued arrest warrants against eight accused of Yusuf Tannery. Later, the law enforcement forces conducted a raid on Sunday (August 28) and arrested five people and handed them over to the court.

The court denied them bail and sent them to jail.

The arrestees were Yusuf Tannery Managing Director Md Bashir Ullah, Director Md Ajiullah, Mortgagor and Managing Director Md Bashir Ullah’s three sons Md Yusuf Ali, Md Harun Or Rashid and Md Abu Sufian.

Earlier, the Money Loan Court ordered five-month imprisonment for the Managing Director of Nurjahan Group Zahir Ahmed Ratan and Directors Tipu Sultan and Farhad Manowar for going into hiding without paying the bank’s Tk 3.25 billion in loan.

Besides, Ratanpur Steel Re-Rolling Mills Ltd (RSRM) Managing Director Maksudur Rahman was banned from leaving the country along with confiscation of his passport due to Tk 3.12 billion in default loan.

Apart from this, Md Abul Hossain, a defaulting customer of Golden Re-Rolling Mills Limited (case number 180/17) was arrested for non-payment of Tk 65 million to the bank’s Motijheel corporate branch.

Three officers of Abdus Samad Packaging were arrested for non-payment of Tk 25 million to Janata Bank’s foreign trade corporate branch.

Defaulting customer M/s Hasan Saw Mill owner Khandkar Zakir Hossain was arrested and sent to court for non-payment of Tk 10.1 million to Janata Bank’s Gazipur Corporate Branch.

When contacted, Md Abdus Salam Azad, Managing Director and CEO of Janata Bank Ltd, said, “We are very serious about reducing our default loans. For this reason, legal action has been intensified against loan defaulters who have been delaying repayment for a long time.”

He also said that it is necessary to bring more people under banking services to speed up industrialisation and boost economic activities in the country.