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The securities regulator slammed top five brasses of Meghna Pet Industries, including its chairman, with penalties worth Tk 35 million for gross violation of rules and regulations.
The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) took the punitive action on completion of an inquiry and enforcement hearing held at its office.
An inquiry committee found out that the production of Meghna Pet Industries, a sister concern of Meghan Group, has remained suspended since 2004 but it did not disclose the price-sensitive information (PSI).
The company also provided misleading information about the value of property, plants, equipment, and inventories.
As per a regulatory decision, the company's chairman, Muhammad Zakaria and managing director MF Kamal will pay a fine of Tk 10 million each.
The BSEC also imposed a fine of Tk 5 million on each of three directors -- Md Abu Taher, Kabir Ahmed, and Wali Ullah.
The fines have to be paid to the regulator within 30 days.
After the expiry of the time given, those penalised would have to count an additional Tk 10,000 payment for each day.
Meghna Pet put the value of its property, plant and equipment at Tk 63.4 million as of June 2021 despite the fact that it had been non-operational for more than 17 years.
It even granted unsecured loans to its sister concern overlooking its worsening financial condition.
The company failed to provide an inventory report to the inquiry committee, but it had reported inventories worth Tk 22.6 million as of June 2021.
The company neither provided any information regarding unclaimed dividends, nor did it transfer those to the account of the capital market stabilisation fund.
It breached the securities rules by appointing one individual as company's chief financial officer (CFO) and as company secretary (CS). Two top officials also held top positions in another company namely Meghna Condensed Milk.
The company also refrained from replying to a query made by the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE).
In a reply to the inquiry committee, the company said it had never declared dividend since inception and that the same individual had been appointed as CFO and CS as it was not possible to pay salaries to two persons.
The irony is that it is still listed on the main board of the Dhaka Stock Exchange.
The company said it had fallen victim to illegal intervention and propaganda by the opposition after the group's entities had been divided between owners.