Dandy Dyeing Limited became an emblem of Bangladesh's politically connected corporate culture rather than a conventional fashion-house scandal. Established in 1993, while the Bangladesh Nationalist Party was in power, the dyeing company was owned by members of former prime minister Khaleda Zia's family, including her sons Tarique Rahman and Arafat Rahman. It began with 30 million BDT in capital, listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange in 1995, and raised a further 31 million BDT from investors. During the family's political ascendancy, Dandy's television commercials appeared across Bangladesh and the company was portrayed as a relatively successful industrial concern.
The collapse became entangled with allegations of political favoritism and financial misconduct. In September 1996, the Bureau of Anti-Corruption sued Tarique Rahman and four others over a Dandy loan allegedly obtained using falsely evaluated assets. After the BNP returned to power in 2001, the company received a reported 121.6 million BDT waiver of interest, a benefit later disclosed in Parliament by Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith. Dandy borrowed additional money from state-owned Sonali Bank on 16 October 2001, but by 2010 it had lost 148.8 million BDT and carried 66.2 million BDT in net liabilities. Sonali Bank filed a loan-default case on 2 October 2010 against the company, ten directors, and Khaleda Zia; reported liabilities reached 455.9 million BDT by October 2013. The company's directors were dispersed among jail, exile, death, and political controversy after the BNP lost power in 2006, while the business was pushed onto over-the-counter and later alternative trading markets. The trial involving the directors and Khaleda Zia began in 2016, leaving the episode as a long-running example of how a garment-industry enterprise could be amplified by political access and then stranded by debt, litigation, and the collapse of its patronage network.
