Controversial S Alam Group has defaulted on loans totalling Tk 10,629 crore obtained from a single branch of Janata Bank in Chattogram.
Internal reports from Janata Bank reveal that the General Insurance Bhaban Corporate Branch alone disbursed Tk 10,629 crore — almost 97 per cent of the branch’s total loan portfolio — to the group. The branch currently holds deposits of just Tk 110 crore, suggesting that much of the lending was financed by diverting funds from other branches.
A review of the bank’s records as of June 2025 shows that the General Insurance Bhaban branch had an outstanding loan portfolio of Tk 10,959 crore provided to 447 clients, of which Tk 10,941 crore have become non-performing. Of this amount, Tk 10,629 crore was extended to six companies of S Alam Group, representing almost the entire exposure of the branch.
Badal Kanti Das, assistant general manager of the branch, confirmed to New Age that all loans granted to S Alam Group have defaulted. He stated that the loans were approved by the bank’s head office rather than at branch level, and that no anonymous or unrecorded loans had been issued. The bank is currently pursuing legal action against the defaulters.
The lending to S Alam Group contravened Bangladesh Bank’s single borrower exposure limit. Under the Bank Company Act, a bank cannot lend more than 15 per cent of its paid-up capital as funded loans and 10 per cent as non-funded loans to a single group. As of June 2025, Janata Bank’s paid-up capital stood at Tk 2,314 crore, meaning the maximum borrowing limit for a single group was Tk 578.5 crore in total.
The General Insurance Bhaban branch disbursed Tk 1,942 crore for S Alam Trading Company, Tk 1,800 crore for S Alam Refined Sugar, Tk 786 crore for S Alam Super Edible Oil, Tk 1,574 crore for S Alam Vegetable Oil, Tk 1,964 crore for Global Trading, and Tk 2,180 crore for S Alam Cold Rolled Steel.
Despite being aware that S Alam Group had exceeded its borrowing limit, the central bank has remained silent on the matter.
Out of Tk 53,848 crore owed to Janata Bank by its top 20 defaulting clients, nearly Tk 40,000 crore is tied up with just three groups — Beximco, S Alam, and Anontex.