Bangladesh Bank has been asked by the High Court to appoint a receiver to manage all the companies of Beximco Group and attach all the property of this beleaguered corporate.
The court also directed the central bank authorities to recover the money obtained by Salman F Rahman, an adviser to deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina, from different banks and bring the siphoned-off funds back from abroad.
In the attachment orders passed Thursday the Bangladesh Bank authorities have been asked to submit a compliance report to the court within four weeks about the steps taken by then.
A High Court bench comprising Justice AKM Asaduzzaman and Justice Muhammad Mahbub Ul Islam passed the orders after hearing a writ petition filed in this regard.
Lawyers from both the sides of the case informed that the HC issued only one rule on the matter. However, the full text of the HC orders released on the day suggests that the HC bench also issued an interim order for appointing a receiver for the pantheon of Beximco Group property.
Masood R Sobhan, a Supreme Court lawyer, filed the petition as public- interest litigation for state acquisition of the conglomerate of Salman Rahman, now in jail following the fall of the past government in a student-mass uprising last month.
The High Court also issued a rule upon the central bank to explain why it "should not be directed to provide information regarding Beximco Pharmaceutical Limited and all other business concerns of Beximco Group of Companies of Salman F Rahman, and how much unpaid loan he obtained from all financial institutions and the present status of loans and repayment".
In the rule it also asks the respondents to explain as to why they should not be directed to appoint a receiver for a period of six months "to take care of all the business concerns of Beximco Group and to attach their property".
Bangladesh Bank, Finance Secretary, Beximco Pharmaceutical Limited and Salman F Rahman have been asked to comply with the rule within four weeks.
Barrister Masood R Sobhan told the FE correspondent that the HC order "will not create any bar for the employees of the Beximco Group to get their salary and allowances".
Beximco owner Salman F Rahman was former private industry and investment adviser to the prime minister and also former Awami League lawmaker from Dohar in Dhaka.
He was arrested from Dhaka's Sadarghat area on August 13 this year while reportedly fleeing by boat. Te following day, he was placed on a 10-day remand in a murder case filed with New Market Police Station and his remand was extended several times later. Salman, known as one of Sheikh Hasina's trusted advisers with a ministerial rank, was arrested in a case over the killing of a shop employee, not for financial misconduct he has long been known for.
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