Janata Bank filed a case against the industrial conglomerate S Alam Group with the Chattogram Money Loan Court on Sunday over defaulted loans amounting to Tk 1,964 crore.

Chattogram Money Loan Court Magistrate Mujahidur Rahman issued an embargo on the transfer of about 7.43 crore shares of First Security Islami Bank and Al-Arafah Islami Bank controlled by the conglomerate, confirmed Rezaul Karim, bench assistant of the court.

He said this is the first time a defaulted loan case has been filed against the group by a bank.

Karim said 10 people, including Mohammed Saiful Alam, the chairman of the group, and his wife Farzana Parveen, were accused in the case of defaulting on the loan, which was taken by Global Trading Corporation, a sister concern of S Alam Group.

According to Janata Bank and the Bangladesh Bank, the group has received Tk 8,216 crore in total loans from one of the bank's branches, which represents 90 percent of the branch's entire loan portfolio.

Bank officials said this is the first time that any bank has filed a loan recovery case against S Alam Group as the conglomerate had weaponised its political ties for business gains during the past Awami League regime.

Shafiqul Islam Chowdhury, the legal adviser for Janata Bank, told The Daily Star, "The court imposed an embargo on the transfer of shares of the two banks owned by Saiful Alam Masud and his brother Abdus Samad Labu. The court also ordered the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to investigate whether the loan approval process was properly complied with."

Court documents state that Global Trading Corporation first obtained a loan of Tk 650 crore from the Chattogram corporate branch of Janata Bank, which is situated in Sadharan Bima Bhaban, in violation of Bangladesh Bank's directives.

The loan amount now stands at Tk 1,963 crore, including interest, as the company has not paid any instalments since September 2024.