HC summons 280 defaulters of People's Leasing

The High Court on Thursday summoned 280 individuals and institutions who had defaulted on loans of Tk5 lakh or more taken from the People's Leasing and Financial Services Limited.

They have to explain before the court on 23 February as to how they will make the repayments, according to an order issued by the HC bench of Justice Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarker, reports Prothom Alo.

The HC had asked the authorities concerned to submit a list of borrowers of People's Leasing in November last year. In compliance with the order, a list of 500 borrowers -- both individuals and institutions -- was submitted to the court on 23 November.

The court then asked 280 people to show cause for defaulting on loans.

People's Leasing and Financial Services Limited, a non-bank financial institution, spent more than Tk6.25 crore on shares of SS Steel Limited in 2015.

About 31.30 lakh shares with a face value of Tk10 were transferred in favor of People's Leasing after the approval of an Initial Public Offering by SS Steel Limited in 2018.

M Moazzem Hossain, the erstwhile chairman of People's Leasing, transferred the remaining 31.25 lakh shares to his Beneficiary Owners (BO) account, instead of transferring them to the company's account.

People's Leasing has been counting losses since 2015. The company has not been able to recover money from the defaulters, neither has it been able to return funds to the depositors.

Earlier in July 2019, the Bangladesh Bank filed a case with the HC for the liquidation of People's Leasing. After the hearing on the case, the court issued an order to do so.