The amount of the defaulted loans of 10 influential business groups — with close ties to the fallen Awami League-led government and currently under joint investigation — has so far climbed to Tk 51,663 crore, out of a total loan of Tk 3.56 lakh crore, according to data from the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit and Bangladesh Bank as of December 2024.
Financial experts attributed the crisis to the unchecked lending, systemic regulatory failures, and the political shielding of borrowers — reasons now being uncovered as a result of investigations by the interim government.
In January 2025, the government formed a joint investigation team to probe large-scale financial crimes, including loan fraud, embezzlement, and money laundering tied to these 10 business groups and the family of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
Each team includes officials from the Criminal Investigation Department, the National Board of Revenue, and the Anti-Corruption Commission, working under BFIU coordination.
The teams are also examining the financial records of key individuals behind the groups, many of whom have renounced Bangladeshi citizenship to escape legal action.
The 10 business groups under investigation are S Alam Group, Beximco Group, Nabil Group, Summit Group, Orion Group, Gemcon Group, Nassa Group, Bashundhara Group, Sikder Group, and Aramit Group.
The team has not yet found any loan in the name of Sheikh Hasina and family members.
Of the 10 groups, eight have officially defaulted on their loans.
The Beximco Group has emerged as the largest defaulter, with Tk 20,516 crore of its Tk 53,042 crore total loans in default.
The most complex and controversial case involves the S Alam Group, which holds Tk 2,25,029 crore in loans from 10 banks and one non-bank financial institution, with half of the loans reportedly issued under false or unidentifiable entities.
This group’s defaulted loans total Tk 11,850 crore at Janata Bank and Union Bank.
The Bashundhara Group follows with Tk 7,811 crore as defaulted loans out of its total loan of Tk 34,938 crore.
The Nabil Group holds Tk 7,000 crore in defaulted loan against its total loan of Tk 9,405 crore, the third-highest.
The amount of loan that the Sikder Group defaulted  is Tk 2,094 crore -- out of its total loan of Tk 10,233 crore, while the Orion Group has Tk 1,461 crore in defaulted loans against its total loans of Tk 10,012 crore.
Besides, companies linked to former land minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury have Tk 638 crore in defaulted loans out of the total Tk 1,107 crore in loans.
However, Bangladesh Bank officials said that Saifuzzaman may have secured a far greater volume of loans — potentially exceeding Tk 7,000 crore — by managing to receive unidentifiable loans using his influence over United Commercial Bank.
The Gemcon Group’s defaulted loans stand at Tk 193 crore while the group’s total borrowed volume is Tk 2,113 crore.
As part of a recent crackdown, the government has attached Tk 1,75,625 crore in assets linked to the 10 groups and the Hasina family, according to BFIU data.
The assets include Tk 1,30,758 crore in domestic immovable property, $164 million in foreign immovable assets, Tk 42,614.27 crore in frozen domestic movable assets, and $20.78 million in foreign movable assets, it said.
The assets also comprise shares in banks and listed companies to luxury real estate and large deposit holdings. Many of the key figures behind the defaults are either abroad or facing prosecution.
The Bangladesh Bank, with support from international partners, is pursuing recovery of foreign assets through Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties.
Central bank governor Ahsan H Mansur at a press conference on Monday said that while the legal process might take four to five years, several foreign governments had expressed their willingness to assist, provided Bangladesh meets the required legal standards.
The government aims to use the recovered assets to create a dedicated fund to recapitalise troubled banks, compensate affected depositors, and support social welfare initiatives for low-income communities, Mansur said.
The volume of non-performing loans across the banking sector surged by Tk 2 lakh crore, reaching Tk 3.45 lakh crore, by December 2024. Nearly 20 per cent of all outstanding loans — equivalent to Tk 17.11 lakh crore — are now classified as non-performing, the highest ratio in South Asia.
The explosion in defaulted loan is widely attributed to years of data manipulation and relaxed rescheduling policies under the previous AL government, which allowed politically connected borrowers to keep loans ‘regular’ on paper while draining banks of real capital.
