Northern Jute shares up over 60pc while factory is shut

Investors bid up the share price of Northern Jute Manufacturing more than 60 per cent within a month, despite the company being closed for more than five years due to its involvement in the Prasanta Kumar Halder (PK Halder) loan scam.
The price of Northern Jute Manufacturing shares was Tk 85.7 each on February 5 this year, which rose to Tk 139.2 on March 2 on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE).
Following this price surge, the primary regulator DSE asked the company about the hike, but the company did not respond to the query, according to a stock exchange filing.

The company shut down its mill in February 2020 after its bank accounts were frozen, as its operations became untenable.
The Bangladesh Bank ordered all of Northern Jute's bank accounts to be frozen as part of a High Court directive. Because the company had no access to its accounts, it could not pay workers' wages, buy raw jute, or make supplier payments, forcing the mill to stop production indefinitely.
The account freeze was linked to alleged involvement with the controversial financier Prasanta Kumar Halder (PK Halder) and loans taken in the names of companies connected to him.
Northern Jute's managing director at the time, Uzzal Kumar Nandi, also chaired People's Leasing and Financial Services, one of the non-bank financial institutions embroiled in fraud, which compounded the crisis.
The company ceased publishing financial statements after 2020 and did not declare dividends or engage in meaningful business activity.
DSE inspectors visiting the site in 2023 found the factory deserted and locked, with no sign of regular operations.
The Financial Express could not access the company's website as it was not online, and the company secretary's phone number was switched off.
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