MTB serves legal notice on Ananta Jalil to recover Tk 226 crore

Mutual Trust Bank (MTB), a private commercial bank, has sent a legal notice to Dhallywood film actor and businessman MA Jalil Ananta and his first wife Khadiza Parvin to recover dues of about Tk 226 crore 75 lakh 10 thousand.

According to the bank's notice, a term loan of Tk 267 crore 21 lakh 90 thousand of AB Apparels Limited was rescheduled on 28 August 2024.

As part of repaying the liability, Ananta Jalil, chairman of the company, gave the bank a cheque for Tk 226 crore 75 lakh 10 thousand on 18 October. However, the cheque was dishonoured on 2 November due to insufficient funds in the bank account.

The notice gives a final warning that if the full amount is not paid within the next 30 days, legal action will be taken against them under sections 138 and 140 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881.

Due to the excess bank-loan burden, the normal operations of the industrial enterprises owned by Ananta Jalil have come to a standstill. With factories closing one after another, more than 10,000 workers have become jobless.

Business sources said he tried to find local and foreign strategic investors and partners to keep the enterprises running. He held repeated talks with several Chinese entrepreneurs on the matter, but received no positive response.

Later, an initiative to rent out the factories to overcome the crisis also failed to succeed.

Alongside the halt in production, the company's crisis has deepened further due to service complications. Recently, Titas Gas authorities disconnected the gas connection of AJI Group, owned by Ananta Jalil, over unpaid gas bills and allegations of illegal gas theft from pipelines.

Notably, Ananta made his debut as a businessman in the readymade garment industry by founding AJI Group. Later, in 2010, he entered films through his self-produced movie 'Khoj-The Search', and then formed AB Apparels Limited, making actress Afia Nusrat Barsha its managing director (MD).

Confirming receipt of the bank's legal notice, Ananta Jalil said that during Covid, even though work had stopped, he had taken loans of about Tk 200 crore to keep the factories running and to pay workers' salaries and allowances regularly. Later, that loan, together with accumulated interest, grew to this huge amount.

Asked whether spending extra time in films had caused the business collapse, he said his business had fallen into this difficulty due to global and domestic adverse circumstances such as the Covid pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.

He also said the bank's overall cooperation is needed to overcome the present standstill and bounce back.