Tk 1,500 crore loan default: Arrest warrant issued against Maheen Enterprise owner

A Chattogram court issued an arrest warrant against shipbreaker Ashiqur Rahman Lasker, the owner of Maheen Enterprise, who, as per court documents, has defaulted on loans worth Tk 1,500 crore.

Judge Mujahidur Rahman of Chattogram's Money Loan Court issued the order today.

The arrest warrant was issued over unrealised loans worth Tk 89.5 crores from the National Bank. The bank had filed a case against them in 2022.

"They are not coming forward to pay back the loans," observed the order signed by Rahman. "Since there are no properties attached against the loans as collateral, it is not possible to auction off anything to realise the money owed."

Lasker has multiple cases pending against him filed by several banks -- the largest amount, Tk 1,257 crores, is owed to AB Bank.

These loans were taken in the names of Maheen Enterprises, Grand Trading Enterprises, ARL Shipbreaking, and ARL Garments among others.

Maheen Enterprise debuted in Chattogram as a shipbreaker.

A previous order passed by the same judge and the same court had observed, "The owners of Maheen Group have fled to Canada. It must be investigated if they have committed capital flight."

This massive amount of loans violates the single borrower exposure limit that all banks must follow, it said.