Zia, three family members summoned

Dhaka: Opposition BNP chief Khaleda Zia, her Malaysia-based daughter-in-law and two granddaughters were summoned today to appear before a Bangladeshi court next month in connection with a USD 3.4 million loan default case.
The three family members are Arafat Rahman Koko’s wife Sharmila Rahman Sithi and his daughters Zafia Rahman and Zahia Rahman – who are now in Malaysia.
Zia and her three family members were made defendants in the case filed against the directors of their family-owned company, Dandy Dyeing Ltd, for defaulting on a loan of Tk 45.49 crore (Rs 36.40 crore), Dhaka Tribune reported. Judge Ruksana Parvin Happy of Dhaka Artha Rin Adalat 1 (money loan court) passed the order following a summon petition filed by Sonali Bank, a state-owned leading commercial bank in Bangladesh.
The court has fixed April 12 for framing and hearing the case.
Following Koko’s death in Malaysia on January 24, Sonali Bank’s Senior Executive Officer Nazrul Islam filed the petition before the court on March 8.
The other defendants in the case are Dandy Dyeing Directors Tarique Rahman, Zia’s eldest son, Giasuddin Al Mamun and his wife Shahina Begum, Nasrin Iskander, wife of Zia’s brother Sayeed Iskander and their sons Shams Iskander and Shafin Iskander and daughter Sumaiya Iskander, Gazi Galib Abdus Sattar, Shamsun Nahar and Masud Hassan.
According to the case statement, the defendants on February 24, 1993, applied to Sonali Bank for a Tk 13.14 crore loan in favour of Dandy Dyeing. On May 9, the same year, the bank approved the loan.
The governing body of the bank on October 16, 2001 waived the loan interests following an application by the defendants, and later the loan was rescheduled.
On October 2, 2012, Sonali Bank filed the case as the defendants failed to repay the loan, though the bank issued a final notice on February 28, 2010, asking them to repay the loan. (PTI)