Tk1,126cr default: AB Bank sues borrower 3 months after he fled country
AB Bank has sued Ashiqur Rahman Lashkar alias Mahin who defaulted its Tk1,126 crore and fled the country.
The case was filed with the Artha Rin Adalat, also known as the money loan court, in Chattogram on 18 June, almost three and a half months after his fleeing.
Mahin's father Atiqur Rahman Lashkar and mother Shamsunnahar Lashkar, who provided the mortgage, and wife Rubaiya Lashkar, the guarantor of the loan, were also made defendants in the case.
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Taking cognizance of the AB Bank's complaint, the court issued summons against the borrower Mahin and the other defendants.
According to case documents, Mahin first took a small loan from the Agrabad branch of the bank in 2004. Later in 2007 and 2008, he was granted large loans. Until 2013-2014, he was a compliant borrower and paid instalments regularly. He has been avoiding repayments since then. Yet, Mahin got big loans to import scrap ships in February 2020.
Mahin, who used to be a businessman in the shipbreaking sector, is a friend of Faisal Morshed, son of BNP leader and AB Bank's sponsor director Morshed Khan. He capitalised on the identity to get large loans from the bank, sources at AB Bank said.
He has also debts of Tk185 crore to Dhaka Bank, Tk175 crore to National Bank, Tk100 crore to Mercantile Bank, Tk100 crore to Agrani Bank, Tk72 crore to Phoenix Finance, Tk29 crore to Premier Bank, Tk24 crore to IFIC Bank, Tk19 crore to First Finance and Investment Limited and Tk12 crore to Meridian Finance and Investment Limited.
He left the country for Dubai a day after the money loan court banned his travelling abroad on 5 March following a loan defaulting case by one of the lenders.
He took these loans in the name of Mahin Enterprises, ARL Shipbreaking Limited and ARL Garments.
Talking to the Business Standard, officials at several banks who lent Mahin, said the defaulter got all facilities in the good days of the shipbreaking industry. A big portion of the money he took might be laundered to Canada, Panama and Liberia, they assumed.
Another portion Mahin used for becoming director of Meghna Bank, buying land, cars and luxurious houses. His directorship at Meghna Bank, however, was revoked in 2020 due to loan default.
After completing his education in London, Mahin joined his father's business. His father was once a marine surveyor at German-based company "Accord" and he started own business after retirement.
