Bangladesh's Meenhar Group shutting down after loan defaults

Chittagong, Bangladesh-based Meenhar Group has closed down after a bank filed suit against it seeking BDT 1.78 billion (USD 16.1 million, EUR 14.7 million).

Bangladesh’s One Bank, which had supplied a loan facility to the company since 2011, filed three separate suits against Meenhar Group subsidiaries in July 2023, seeking BDT 790 million (USD 7.2 million, EUR 6.5 million) from Meenhar Sea Foods, BDT 456 million (USD 4.2 million, EUR 3.8 million) from Meenhar Fisheries, and BDT 223 million (USD 2 million, EUR 1.8 million) from Meenhar Marine Foods. The business, which had already shut down operations, is now being wound down by its owner, according to The Business Standard.

Meenhar Group Founder and Managing Director Habibullah Khan was also named as a defendant in the suits, along with his wife and company chairman Yasmin Khan, his son and company director Habib Ahasan Khan, his daughter and director Tahsin Khan, and another company director, Debapriyo Barua, according to the Bangladeshi newspaper. An initial hearing on the suits was scheduled for 18 October but was delayed to January 2024 due to the judge’s absence.

According to the lawsuits, One Bank had no issues with Meenhar Group until 2019, when it fell behind on its loan payments. In previous years, it had invested in modernizing its processing equipment and expanded from frozen wild-caught shrimp to fish processing and exporting. But a decline …

Photo courtesy of Meenhar Group