More than half of the 231 crore taka borrowed from IFIC Bank to build and decorate Dhaka’s five-star Holiday Inn hotel was diverted to accounts used to trade Beximco Limited shares, a Bangladesh Bank investigation has found.
Investigators traced 120 crore taka in loans to Habib Hotel International Limited, the company behind Holiday Inn Dhaka City Centre, to accounts belonging to individuals and companies trading in Beximco shares, according to a confidential central bank report obtained by Daily Waadaa.
Investigators found that much of the remaining loan money was withdrawn in cash. Funds also passed through multiple bank accounts in transactions the regulator described as layering, a method used to obscure the origin and destination of money.
The findings raise fresh questions about lending practices at IFIC under its former chairman Salman F Rahman, vice-chairman of Beximco Group and a former adviser to ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
Salman F Rahman was arrested eight days after the Awami League government collapsed amid a mass uprising. He was subsequently implicated in multiple criminal cases, including those involving killings during the protests, and has remained in jail since his arrest.
IFIC's internal records identify 10,948 crore taka in outstanding loans as linked to Salman F Rahman, with bank officials alleging that he benefited directly or indirectly from the lending.
Two companies controlled by businessman Alam Ahmed — Habib Hotel International and NPM Apparels — appear on that list.
Together, they owe IFIC 1,321 crore taka. Habib Hotel accounts for 762 crore taka and NPM Apparels for 559 crore taka. The entire exposure has been classified as Bad and Loss (BL), the most severe category of non-performing loans.
Alam, who served as an adviser to the central committee of the Awami League-affiliated Krishak League, left Bangladesh following the collapse of Sheikh Hasina's government on August 5, 2024.
He had borrowed nearly 2,000 crore taka from at least six banks to finance his businesses.
Bangladesh Bank instructed IFIC on March 5, 2026, to identify Habib Hotel International as a wilful defaulter after finding that money sanctioned for the hotel project had been diverted.
IFIC issued notices on March 30 and May 11 before formally classifying the company and its directors as wilful defaulters in June.
The designation carries consequences beyond ordinary loan default.
Under Bangladesh Bank regulations, wilful defaulters face restrictions on new borrowing, loan rescheduling and eligibility for bank directorships. The framework also provides for criminal proceedings if borrowers fail to repay within two months of the prescribed repayment notice, subject to applicable legal procedures.
Habib Hotel disputed the findings.
In a written response to IFIC on May 18, the company denied diverting loan money into the stock market. It maintained that neither the company nor its directors held beneficiary owner (BO) accounts or purchased shares in their own names.
But the central bank's findings concerned transfers to third-party accounts rather than direct share purchases by Habib Hotel or its directors.
The company's denial that it traded shares in its own name does not explain why money borrowed for hotel construction reached accounts associated with Beximco share trading.
The investigation establishes the movement of funds but does not, on the information reviewed by Waadaa, identify the ultimate beneficiaries of every transaction.
IFIC spokesperson and Head of Branch Business Helal Ahmed confirmed the wilful-default classification.
He told Waadaa that the bank had filed a case against Habib Hotel's directors and that legal proceedings were continuing.
Talking with Waadaa, a senior IFIC executive, speaking on condition of anonymity, said company representatives had approached the bank seeking loan restructuring.
They were advised to make a payment and apply for a one-time exit arrangement, which would require Bangladesh Bank's approval.
The latest investigation is not the first to identify irregularities in loans extended for the Holiday Inn project.
As early as 2014, Bangladesh Bank investigators found that a substantial portion of a National Bank loan to Habib Hotel had been transferred to accounts belonging to other businesses.
The findings raised questions about whether funds sanctioned for hotel development were being used for their approved purpose. Yet financing continued.
Janata Bank subsequently took over a 143 crore taka loan from National Bank despite objections from its own credit committee. The state-owned lender went on to provide additional financing to the hotel project.
National Bank also disbursed 300 crore taka for hotel decoration within just 11 days, an unusually compressed period for a loan of that size. The disbursement later came under scrutiny over allegations of irregularities.
The Anti-Corruption Commission investigated allegations that hotel financing had been misappropriated through cash withdrawals and transfers across multiple bank accounts.
The successive investigations reveal a pattern extending over more than a decade: project loans transferred to unrelated accounts, further financing despite earlier warnings, and subsequent findings of additional fund diversion.
The latest IFIC investigation adds a stock-market dimension to those concerns.
Unlike earlier findings involving transfers to other businesses, the central bank has now traced a substantial portion of the hotel's financing to accounts trading shares in a company belonging to the business group associated with IFIC's former chairman.
Salman F Rahman chaired IFIC until September 2024, when Bangladesh Bank reconstituted the lender's board following the fall of the Awami League government. His influence over IFIC has since become a focus of regulatory scrutiny.
In February 2025, IFIC Chairman Md Mehmood Husain publicly acknowledged that Rahman had exercised considerable influence over the bank despite Beximco Group holding only a 6% stake.
Husain said businesses associated with the conglomerate had benefited from approximately 10,000 crore taka in loans.
IFIC's internal classification of 10,948 crore taka in Rahman-linked outstanding loans provides a more detailed picture of that exposure.
The classification includes Habib Hotel International and NPM Apparels, although the two companies are owned by Alam rather than Beximco Group.
Separate financial intelligence investigations identified 6,798 crore taka invested in the capital market by eight companies and 34 individuals linked to Salman F Rahman.
Waadaa contacted Habib Hotel International Director Haridas Barman, who has been representing the company in dealings with IFIC, for comment. He declined to respond.
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