Dhaka, May 17 -- Twenty-six export-oriented garment manufacturers on Saturday demanded remedy and investigation into alleged fake loans worth hundreds of billions of taka created in their names by the Narayanganj branch of Premier Bank PLC.

These irregularities occurred between 2017 and 2023 while HBM Iqbal was the chairman at the bank during the Awami League-led government.

At a press conference at the Economic Reporters' Forum, the factory owners alleged that the bank branch created massive liabilities through 'fake' back-to-back letters of credit without their knowledge and later converted those liabilities into loans in the names of the customers. In the written statement, Arifur Rahman, owner of Dowas Land Apparels, said that many ...