More than a decade after two companies linked to Ahkam Ullah, a prominent cultural organiser aligned with the fallen Awami League, borrowed 65 crore taka from state-owned BASIC Bank, the lender says the debt has grown to about 223 crore taka.
It has filed lawsuits, pursued auctions, seized property and obtained arrest warrants. Most of the money remains unpaid, and bank officials say the borrower is no longer responding.
For years under the Awami League’s increasingly authoritarian rule, allegations involving figures such as Ahkam Ullah rarely received sustained scrutiny. Their public identities were carefully cultivated through poetry and cultural activism, while their financial dealings remained largely outside public view.
One widely watched television appearance captured that contrast.
In March 2023, Ahkam appeared on a Maasranga Television morning programme marking the birth anniversary of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Nothing in the polished broadcast suggested that a state-owned bank had already spent years trying to recover large unpaid loans from companies linked to him.
Asked how he was, Ahkam paused. “Being well,” he said, “is largely a political matter.”
He told the presenter that the Bangladesh of his ideals had been realised and that political and social crises would pass as long as the country remained “politically well.”
The programme then turned to poetry. In his familiar baritone, Ahkam recited a poem about Bangabandhu written by Sheikh Rehana.
At the time, Ahkam was among the Awami League’s most recognisable cultural advocates. As general secretary of the party-aligned Sammilita Sangskritik Jote, he appeared regularly at public events, defended the government and promoted its political positions.
Behind that public role, however, BASIC Bank had already spent years trying to recover money from two companies connected to him.
Documents reviewed by Daily Waadaa, along with interviews with bank officials, show that Harb Holdings Limited and Exiv Trade International Limited received loans totalling 65 crore taka from BASIC Bank’s Shantinagar branch in 2012.
Within three years, both loans had been classified as “bad and loss,” the bank’s most severe category of default.
The liabilities have since more than tripled. According to the bank’s latest calculations, Harb Holdings now owes about 83 crore taka, while Exiv Trade International owes roughly 140 crore taka.
The first loan went to Harb Holdings, a property-development company. On August 14, 2012, BASIC Bank approved a 25 crore taka facility for the company. On October 22, the same branch approved another 40 crore taka for Exiv Trade International, which dealt in the import, export and supply of construction materials, machinery and related products.
Repayments soon faltered. On April 30, 2015, the bank classified both facilities as bad and loss. Interest and other charges continued to accumulate, pushing the combined liability to about 223 crore taka.
“The borrower is no longer communicating with us,”Sumit Ranjan Nath, a general manager at BASIC Bank told Daily Waadaa. “Since there is no communication, we have no scope for an amicable settlement. We are now proceeding through the legal process and will sell the mortgaged assets to adjust the loan.”
The loans were approved during the chairmanship of Sheikh Abdul Hye Bacchu, whose tenure at BASIC Bank became associated with one of the country’s largest banking scandals.
Several current and former BASIC Bank officials told Waadaa that the facilities were approved following instructions from senior officials at the time. Waadaa could not independently verify those accounts.
Nath said the period was marked by serious misconduct.
“There were gross irregularities during that period under his leadership,” he said. “That’s well known to everybody.”
By 2017, with the loans still unpaid, BASIC Bank had turned to the courts. On August 17 that year, it filed two cases before the Artha Rin Adalat, the court responsible for adjudicating loan-recovery disputes.
The case against Exiv Trade International was registered as Case No 299. The case involving Harb Holdings was registered as Case No 300.
The proceedings have continued for years.
In the Exiv Trade case, the bank later obtained a certificate under Section 33(5) of the Artha Rin Adalat Act, allowing it to auction mortgaged assets. Internal correspondence dated March 16, 2020, shows the Shantinagar branch seeking approval from the bank’s head office to publish auction notices in a national newspaper and a local newspaper in Gazipur.
The court records name Abul Fateh Md Ahkam Ullah Imam Khan as managing director of Exiv Trade International. Bilkis Rahman, identified as the company’s chairperson, is also listed as a defendant.
Auction notices reviewed by Waadaa describe a substantial portfolio of pledged properties. In the Exiv Trade case, the bank sought to auction hundreds of decimals of land in Gazipur. Separate notices relating to Harb Holdings list assets in Dhaka, Gazipur and Cox’s Bazar.
But bank officials involved in the recovery process said the value of the collateral had been overstated when the loans were approved, limiting how much the lender could expect to recover.
Dewan Erfan Ahmed, an assistant general manager at BASIC Bank’s Shantinagar branch, said some of the firms that valued the properties were later blacklisted and faced legal proceedings over inflated assessments.
“Many of the firms that carried out those valuations were later blacklisted, and cases were filed against them,” he told Waadaa.
The bank has taken possession of one property in Kamalapur through court-ordered execution proceedings. The asset, however, represents only a small part of the outstanding debt.
“It’s only a three-katha plot,” Ahmed said. “Selling it won’t recover much.”
Nath gave a similar assessment. “As far as I remember, the mortgaged properties will not fully cover the loan,” he said.
Court records also show that an arrest warrant was issued through the Artha Rin Adalat as part of the continuing recovery process. Even with the lawsuits, auction orders and enforcement measures, the bank has yet to recover most of the 223 crore taka it says it is owed.
Nath said he had heard that Ahkam was no longer in Bangladesh but could not confirm his whereabouts. Several other people familiar with the matter also said he had left the country. Waadaa was unable to independently establish his current location.
While the bank pursued him through the courts, Ahkam remained active in support of Sheikh Hasina and the Awami League.
At a programme on December 14, 2023, weeks before a general election boycotted by the main opposition parties, he accused government opponents of trying to derail the vote and declared that “there is no alternative to Sheikh Hasina.”
He urged voters to support the Awami League’s electoral symbol, the boat, and warned that a defeat for the party would make the country “pro-Pakistan” again.
After the January 7 election, Sammilita Sangskritik Jote congratulated Hasina on what it described as a landslide victory. In a statement, the organisation praised her “skilful and dynamic leadership” and said it expected Bangladesh’s development to continue under her government.
People familiar with Ahkam’s recent activities said he has continued to campaign for the Awami League from abroad.
Repeated attempts by Waadaa to reach him for comment were unsuccessful.
—