After the death of award-winning actor and veteran Freedom Fighter Akbar Hossain Pathan, better known by his stage name Farooque and also as “Miya Bhai”, many people have alleged that he owed a debt of Tk5,000 crore.
But Bangladesh Bank and its related division, the Credit Information Bureau (CIB), have no documents about his Tk5,000 crore loan.
However, officials confirmed that it is true that Farooque, a ruling party lawmaker, was a loan defaulter. In a report, the CIB stated that he had no other debt at any other bank except Sonali Bank.
Farooque had been undergoing treatment at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore for a long time. He last went to Singapore for a regular health check-up in early March 2021. At the time, he was diagnosed with a blood infection. He died on Monday and was buried at his family graveyard in Gazipur on Tuesday.
After Farooque's death, his wife told the media that he had taken Tk24 crore as a loan from a bank. After that, Tk2 crore was paid back. “However, I will be able to inform everyone about the details in a few days,” she added.
It is known that the actor started his business with a loan from the state-owned Sonali Bank in 2009. In 2013, he again took out a loan from Sonali Bank for that project.
According to bank documents, the lawmaker is the partner of 88% of Farooque Dyeing Knitting and Manufacturing, with his wife Farhana Pathan owning the rest.
However, shortly after the factory was closed, the loan account became irregular. The bank has the Gazipur factory as mortgage.
Finally, in September 2017, Sonali Bank filed a case with the Money Loan Court to recover defaulted loans of Tk82.44 crore.
In 2018, Farooque obtained nomination as the Awami League candidate for the Dhaka-17 constituency. At the time, the loan was rescheduled under special consideration with the permission of Bangladesh Bank.
But nothing improved about the loan repayment. So later the bank again filed a case. By that time, the bank loan with interest had increased to Tk101 crore.
Requesting anonymity, an official of Sonali Bank said: “The bank got the judgement in its favour to occupy and sell the mortgaged property. Soon, the bank will take action on the procedure.”
However, the bank denies making any official statement about Farooque's initial loan amount.
