Shahidul Ahsan, a known fraud master in the banking sector, has pushed several banks to the brink of collapse. Although Bangladesh Bank has identified him, he continues to attempt expanding his influence. He holds significant control over the media, serving as the Managing Director of DBC Television. Through fraud, he obtained a loan of 30 crore taka from NRBC Bank, which helped him become the owner of DBC Television. Additionally, he used the television station to support authoritarian government actions and suppress movements for equality. Currently, he still benefits from his position by keeping Mohammad Manjurul Islam as the head of DBC Television. He is also trying to expand his influence in both the Mercantile Bank and Meghna Bank. Despite embezzling thousands of crores from the country through his fraudulent activities, he continues his operations without interruption.
Shahidul Ahsan is the chairman of the AG Agro Foods Ltd. Group, Ahsan Group, AG Property Development, and former chairman of Mercantile Bank. He once brought Mercantile Bank to the brink of collapse through fraud and later used the forged signature of his friend’s wife, Kamrun Nahar (Sakhi), to cause a crisis at the new generation NRBC Bank. However, these banks slowly recovered due to the intervention of Bangladesh Bank.
In addition, Shahidul Ahsan owns AG Agro Industries, Regent Holdings, Swadesh Builders, Capital Holding & Development Co-operation, Home Apparels, Raima Fashion, AG Ceramics, RNS Corporation, and Friends Traders. These businesses have been in severe financial trouble for a long time, with some possibly closing down. Some continue to operate, but employees are owed 6-8 months of wages.
On February 17, 2015, before opening a bank account, Shahidul Ahsan applied for a loan in the name of Begumganj Feed Mills Ltd., an associate company of Ahsan Group, at NRBC Bank. Later, through bank officials, he withdrew a large sum of money for his businesses, resulting in a fraudulent withdrawal of 301 crore taka. This caused NRBC Bank to become a “risky” bank.
Despite being just a customer of NRBC Bank, Shahidul Ahsan influenced the operations of Mercantile Bank as its chairman. A report from Bangladesh Bank reveals that he violated laws to secure loans, bought anonymous shares, and participated illegally in the bank’s management. Moreover, by embezzling the bank’s money, he later became the Vice Chairman of the Bangladesh Association of Banks (BAB).
Shahidul Ahsan has also taken large loans from several banks under the name of AG Agro. He used fraud to create anonymous shareholders at NRBC Bank, and took loans from Mercantile Bank using the names of Enayet Hossain, Firoz Hossain Khan, Tushar Iqbal, and Amir Hossain, using the money to buy anonymous shares at NRBC.
A Bangladesh Bank report stated that NRBC Bank lent 301 crore taka to his two companies, which accounts for 56% of the bank’s capital. This violates Bangladesh Bank’s ‘single borrower loan limit’ policy and constitutes a punishable crime. The report also mentions that his anonymous shares should be confiscated.