While over 10,000 depositors of eight leasing companies are screaming to get their money back, the leasing bosses bought Mashrafee’s Bracelet at a cost of Tk 4.2 million in an auction, which brand experts claimed as a PR stunt.

Sources said eight leasing companies are not repaying principal and interest to the clients worth over Tk 1500 crore.

The companies are Peoples Leasing, BIFC, First Finance, Fareast Finance and Investment, Prime Finance and Investment, Reliance Finance, International Leasing and Financial Services and IIDFC

AT this scenario Chairman of Bangladesh Leasing and Financial Companies Association (BLFCA) Chairman Mominul Islam, who took part in the auction on the behalf of their organizations.

Those NBFIs lure the investors with commitment of high interest rate in messages through mobile phones and now not paying back even the principle amount, Zahanara Beguam, wife of a pensioners told Business Mirror on Monday.

“We deposited Tk 12 lakh to Peoples Leasing being allured by their advertisement. After deposit we saw some progress in accounts but later on they stopped messaging. Now we are begging help from many doors to get our hard earned pension fund back,” Zahanara said.

A total of 35 NBFIs are operating in the country, with total portfolio standing at Tk 85,000 crore.

Over 60 per cent of the portfolio or Tk 48,000 crore from depositors while 45 per cent of the amount are invested in the industrial sector, followed by small and medium-sized enterprises, housing, construction and others.

Sabbin Hasan, a brand manager of a multinational company told Business Mirror that an association must take responsibility of their members first and then it can engage in social works.

“Keeping 10,000 people at bay by not repaying their deposit an association leaders have engaged in social work is nothing but a public relation stunt,” Suman Saha, another PR expert said.

A member of Bangladesh Leasing and Finance Companies Association told Business Mirror that the association is working on the clients’ claims.

“We are working on the depositors’ problem as well as are trying to contribute some good works to the society,” the member said preferring anonymity.

He said the whole sector should not take the blame for only a few bad companies.

In 2015, the central bank removed five directors of Peoples Leasing on a charge of financial corruption and formed a new board of the company that suffered loss of over Tk 1,000 crore in that year putting its depositors at risk.

Six more non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) are now in a vulnerable state after Peoples Leasing and Finance Services (PLFS) and Bangladesh Industrial Finance (BIFC), which are embracing liquidation.

Bangladesh Bank (BB) has already identified the vulnerable NBFIs and introduced a separate wing to monitor them closely.

Currently, 34 NBFIs are operating in the market. Of them, 22 are listed with the stock market.

The total portfolio size of NBFIs was Tk 66,244 crore as of December 2018. Of which, the defaulted amount was Tk 5,439 crore or 8.21 percent, according to Bangladesh Bank data.

First Finance :-The BB received complaints from depositors against First Finance for not returning their money even after maturity of their deposits. The net loss of the firm stood at Tk50 crore at the end of last year. The default loan of the NBFI was 41.45 percent as of December, 2018.

Fareast Finance and Investment :-The company made a net profit of Tk94 crore in 2017. In spite of recovering from losses and making a profit of Tk14 crore in 2018, its accumulated loss was Tk83 crore.

Prime Finance and Investment :-The company incurred a loss of Tk16.57 crore in 2017 and the accumulated loss stood at Tk197 crore last year.

Reliance Finance:- A special investigation, conducted by the central bank in June last year, found financial statement manipulation by showing Tk118 crore inflated interest calculated against default loan.

International Leasing and Financial Services:- The company could not maintain the required CRR with the central bank as per rules due to severe liquidity crisis.

IIDFC:- The IIDFC, a non-listed financial institution, continued to stay in the red zone in the central bank’s stress testing. It was marked as a weak financial institution in the central bank’s early warning repo