Orion Group has been implicated in a staggering financial scandal involving the reported embezzlement of Tk7,000 crore through fraudulent power projects. The group purportedly siphoned off this massive sum by falsely claiming to establish 7 power plants across various locations in the country.
Of this amount, Tk2,500 crore was misappropriated under the guise of power plant establishment, while Tk4,500 crore was collected as capacity charges without actually providing any electricity.
This grand scale of financial misconduct was reportedly facilitated by senior members of the Awami League, including Mirza Azam, Alauddin Nasim, and Shamim Osman.
Each of these leaders held shares in Orion Group's numerous affiliated companies.
In Narayanganj's Gogon Nagar, the 102-megawatt power plant named "Digital Power and Associates Limited" saw Orion Group hold a 60% share, with the remaining 40% owned by Awami League leader Mirza Azam and his three brothers - Mirza Golam Kibria, Mirza Golam Rabbani, and Mirza Zillur Rahman.
Similarly, in Siddhirganj, Orion Group held a 70% stake in the 100-megawatt "Dutch Bangla Power and Associates Limited", while the remaining 30% was owned by Alauddin Ahmed Nasim and his brother Jamaluddin Ahmed.
At "Orion Power Sonargaon Limited" which operates a 104-megawatt plant, Shamim Osman was granted a 4% stake, while the remaining 96% was controlled by Digital Power and Associates Limited.
This company, in turn, was owned by Orion Group and Mirza Azam and his brothers.
The 110-megawatt "Orion Power Rupsha Limited" in Khulna also showed joint ownership between Digital Power and Associates Limited and Orion Group, along with Mirza Azam and his brothers.
In Munshiganj's Gazaria, the 635-megawatt "Orion Power Unit 2, Dhaka" was officially owned by the Chinese company Fujian Long Energy Co. Ltd. and Dubai’s Firstgen Energy.
However, it was revealed that the true owners of these foreign entities were Orion Group Chairman Obaidul Karim and his son Salman Obaidul Karim.
Despite securing a bank loan of Tk1,076 crore for this power plant, no electricity production has been achieved to date.
The Orion Group’s solar power projects also involved shares from these foreign companies, which were used as a conduit for money laundering.
However, the "Orion Power Meghnaghat Limited" remains solely owned by Orion Group.
In total, loans amounting to Tk5,233 crore were taken from banks for these seven power plants.
The disbursement of these funds was facilitated by the same political figures who had stakes in these power projects.
Additionally, Tk4,525 was received from the government as capacity charges for these plants.
Analysts have called for immediate legal action against the Orion Group for the chaos they have caused in the power sector.
The fraudulent projects were not intended to provide electricity to the public but rather to facilitate financial embezzlement.
The extraneous charges levied must be recovered and returned.
Orion Group has obtained loans amounting to Tk11,419 crore by partnering with whichever political party is in power, leaving behind a defaulted loan amount of BDT Tk1,239 crore.
