Mostafa Group chairman among 7 banned from leaving country

A Chattogram court has ordered a travel ban on seven executives of Mostafa Group, including its chairman Hefazatur Rahman, in a loan default case.

Besides, the officials of the Chattogram-based company have been asked to submit their passports by 17 November.

Judge Mujahidur Rahman of Chattogram Money Loan Court passed the order in the case filed against their Tk66 crore debt to Eastern Bank.

"MM Ship Breakers Limited and Rahman Ship Breakers Limited, affiliated with Mostafa Group, owe Eastern Bank Tk66.66 crore in default," said Rezaul Karim, bench assistant of the court.

In 2018, the bank filed a case in this regard.

Last year on 10 October, the bank submitted a petition to impose a ban on the company's executives from leaving the country.

After hearing the bank's petition, the court on Thursday (10 November) ordered the ban.

Besides the company's chairman, the six others facing the travel ban are – Managing Director Zahir Uddin, Directors Kofil Uddin, Kamal Uddin, Rafiq Uddin, Shafiq Uddin and Jasim Uddin.

Debt-ridden Mostafa Group owes nearly Tk2,000 crore loans to about 30 financial institutions including banks.

Mostafa Group, a commodity importer, was working in commercial trading, export and import. It later worked with manufacturing products of steel, iron and mild-steel rod, shipbreaking, and export.

It also had businesses in textile and readymade garments, paper, refined palm and soybean oil, coconut oil, tea, rubber plantation, transport, IT and the financial sector.