Salman used clout to help businesses secure loans

Salman F Rahman is known for using his influence to get bank loans for Beximco Group by bending rules, but documents seen by this newspaper have revealed how he helped others secure credit, or at least tried to.

The Beximco boss who worked for Sheikh Hasina as one of her trusted advisers until the downfall of the Awami League government was overly influential in the financial sector of Bangladesh.

His clout grew so large in the 15 years of Hasina's regime that his recommendations were difficult for anyone to disobey, said current and former chief executives of three commercial banks who sought anonymity in fear of reprisal.

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Salman is now a disgraced suspect held in police custody over the killing of a shop employee during the violent student-led protests that toppled the Hasina government.

The current administration has not yet charged him with financial misconduct linked to Beximco, for which he has long been known.

Having been the chairman of the privately owned IFIC Bank, Salman had mostly picked state-run banks for his endeavour to facilitate loans for other companies. 

One such company Salman had helped, or tried to help, is Globe Janakantha Shilpa Paribar (GJSP), which sought and secured loans from scam-hit Janata Bank. 

A document obtained by The Daily Star shows that Salman had recommended loans for GJSP from the state-run bank at the height of the coronavirus pandemic. He wrote a letter to the chairman of Janata Bank on August 9, 2020, recommending Tk 250 crore loans as working capital for GJSP.

GJSP is a Bangladeshi conglomerate whose business interests range from construction to engineering, electrical cables, information technology, printing and media.

In the letter, Salman wrote that GJSP was forced to take loans because of the adverse effects of "dishonest political actions".

The loans were not enough to meet GJSP's requirements, a fact that caused the company to default in 2018, he said.

However, the loans were regularised with a low-interest incentive package provided by the government amid the pandemic, according to the letter.

Salman warned that GJSP would collapse if it failed to run its business in full swing because of a lack of funds. Janata Bank then approved the loans, documents show.

The board of directors of the bank was always positive about some influential clients, including Salman, against whom it had not taken any brave move, officials said.

Contacted for comment yesterday, its Chairman SM Mahfuzur Rahman claimed Salman's letter had not influenced the board's decision to approve loans for GJSP.

The board receives thousands of such recommendations for credit but its decisions are not based on these, Mahfuzur told The Daily Star.

Zereen Altaf, chief executive officer of Globe Janakantha Shilpa Paribar, said she did not have any information on Salman's recommendation for the loans.

As Salman is in police custody, The Daily Star contacted Beximco Group which declined the newspaper's request for comment.