Despite being embroiled in over a dozen legal cases involving fraud, embezzlement, money laundering, and illicit wealth accumulation, Orion Group Chairman Obaidul Karim and his family have managed to remain in their positions, continuing their malpractices by exploiting legal loopholes and delaying tactics, with the complicity of certain officials.
Several of these cases have resulted in convictions, yet the family continues to dodge justice through various means, including the disappearance of case files and manipulation within the legal system.
In August 2021, Obaidul Karim's name appeared on a list of top loan defaulters compiled by Bangladesh Bank.
To avoid repercussions, he swiftly filed a writ petition with the High Court, challenging the validity of his inclusion.
On 22 August 2021, he filed the petition, and the following day, a High Court bench comprising Justice M Inayetur Rahim and Justice Sardar Md Rashed Jahangir temporarily suspended his name from the defaulters' list.
The court also issued a four-week rule asking why his name should not be permanently removed from the list.
Since then, at least 95 hearing dates have been postponed, and the case remains unresolved, with the last hearing scheduled for 9 May before a bench of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Muhammad Mahbub Ul Islam.
However, the case has not reappeared on any bench’s cause list since.
During the initial hearing in 2021, Deputy Attorney General Bipul Bagmar argued that Obaidul Karim had shown an interest in purchasing shares from Amar Desh Publications Limited in 2012, claiming ownership of 12.8% of the shares.
However, Karim was neither a director of the publication nor a guarantor for its loans, nor did he own the minimum required shares to be classified as a defaulter.
According to Bangladesh Bank's data for the fiscal year 2023-24, Orion Group, under the ownership of Obaidul Karim, has a staggering loan burden of Tk15,145 crores, of which Tk2,854 crores are owed to Janata Bank alone.
The group's defaulted loans exceed Tk1,000 crores.
Further scrutiny reveals that Obaidul Karim and his son, Salman Obaidul Karim, the managing director of the conglomerate, borrowed Tk166.3 crores from a bank under the company name Belhasa Accom and Associates Limited, despite the absence of even a TIN number for the entity.
They also borrowed Tk78.28 crores under the name Belhasa Accom JV Limited, with Salman Obaidul Karim and sponsor director Majed Ahmed Saif named as co-borrowers.
Additionally, Obaidul Karim took a loan of Tk51.1 crores under the name of Amar Desh Publications Limited, failing to repay Tk12.61 crores, and without any legitimate ownership documents for the company.
Among other discrepancies, the Karim family borrowed Tk102.47 crores under Dutch-Bangla Power and Associates Limited, of which Tk39.97 lakh remains unpaid, along with Tk94.38 crores in non-funded loans.
Loans taken under Kohinoor Chemicals Company Limited amounted to Tk62.33 crores, with Tk49.60 crores unpaid as non-funded guarantees.
Bangladesh Bank's records further indicate that Orion Agro Products Limited borrowed Tk48.16 crores, Orion Footwear Limited borrowed Tk16.20 crores, and Orion Gas Limited borrowed Tk489.06 crores, among others, with significant portions of these loans remaining unpaid.
Despite multiple attempts by Bangladesh Bank to classify these loans as defaulted, legal manoeuvres by the Karim family have successfully removed their names from defaulters' lists through court interventions.
This financial misconduct stretches across numerous Orion subsidiaries, with staggering loan amounts and unpaid debts reported in companies including Orion Power, Orion Pharmaceuticals, and others.
The continued evasion of legal accountability by the Karim family underscores the broader challenges within Bangladesh’s financial regulatory framework.
