Eastern Bank seizes SS Steel chairman’s Banani house over Tk112cr default in unprecedented move

Infographic: TBS

Eastern Bank PLC has seized the Banani residence of SS Steel Limited Chairman Javed Opgenhaffen in an attempt to recover defaulted loans amounting to Tk112.41 crore, in what banking officials describe as an unprecedented step in Bangladesh's financial sector.

In a rare move, the bank today (16 March) published a cautionary notice in national newspapers featuring a photograph of the seized property, warning the public against purchasing or engaging in any transaction related to the house without the bank's prior consent.

According to the notice, Eastern Bank filed a case with the Money Loan Court-03 in Dhaka to recover the outstanding loan from SS Steel. Following the case, the court ordered the attachment of the property owned by the company's chairman on 16 March 2025 in favour of the bank.

The notice further stated that another case is currently pending against SS Steel. In that case, the same court ordered the installation of signboards on the property on 20 October 2025, declaring the bank's claim over the asset.

Based on the court's directives, the Banani property is now under the legal claim and interest of Eastern Bank. The bank cautioned that any attempt to purchase, sell, transfer, register documents, or take possession of the property without its written consent would be illegal and considered a violation of the court order.

"Any transaction related to the property will amount to contempt of court," the notice said, urging the public to refrain from engaging in any dealings involving the property.

A senior official from Eastern Bank's legal department told TBS that the bank had been trying for a long time to recover the defaulted loans from SS Steel, but the company and its chairman had not cooperated with the recovery efforts.

"As the borrower has failed to respond positively, the bank moved to attach the chairman's property following court orders. Publishing the notice with the photograph of the property was necessary to warn the public against purchasing it," the official said.

Attempts to reach Opgenhaffen for comment were unsuccessful as his mobile phone was found switched off. Calls to officials of SS Steel also went unanswered.

The bank had earlier attempted to recover the outstanding loans by auctioning the pledged assets. According to bank officials, Eastern Bank called for an auction on 14 January 2026 to sell collateral assets pledged against the loan.

The collateral included factory machinery, five kathas of land along with a four-storey building in Banani owned by the chairman, as well as shares held by Javed and his wife in several companies, including SS Steel, Fu-Wang Ceramic, Saleh Steel, Al-Falah Steel, JO Holdings, NJ Holdings and Opgenhaffen Holdings.

Interested bidders were invited to participate in the auction by 17 February. However, the bank failed to sell the assets within the stipulated timeframe, prompting it to issue the cautionary notice in newspapers.

SS Steel's financial troubles extend beyond Eastern Bank. Other lenders have also taken legal steps to recover defaulted loans from the company.

United Commercial Bank earlier called for an auction to sell SS Steel's pledged assets on 14 April 2025 in order to recover Tk290 crore in defaulted loans. Similarly, Bank Asia announced an auction on 12 January 2025 to recover Tk168 crore in outstanding loans from the company.

However, according to banking sources, both auctions failed to attract buyers for the collateral assets.

SS Steel's debt burden has risen sharply in recent years. According to its financial disclosures, the company's total loans stood at Tk1,967 crore in the 2023-24 financial year, representing a 113% increase compared with the previous year.

The loan amount was also about 251% higher than the company's shareholders' equity, highlighting the significant leverage on its balance sheet.

Despite its heavy debt load, SS Steel reported a 62% rise in consolidated revenue in FY24, reaching Tk2,407 crore. The growth was mainly driven by income generated from its subsidiary companies.

However, the company's profitability remained weak as it posted a modest net profit of just Tk5 crore during the same period.

For FY24, SS Steel recommended a 2% cash dividend for shareholders, which was approved at an annual general meeting.

The company also failed to publish its audited financial statements for FY25 within the stipulated deadline, raising concerns among investors and regulators.

Due to its failure to disburse dividends on time, the Dhaka Stock Exchange downgraded the company's shares to the Z category, which is reserved for firms that fail to meet regulatory requirements such as timely dividend payments and financial disclosures.

Despite these issues, SS Steel's shares rose sharply today, closing 9.43% higher at Tk5.80 on the Dhaka bourse.

SS Steel was listed on the stock market in 2018 after raising Tk25 crore through an initial public offering by issuing 2.5 crore shares at a face value of Tk10 each.