CID sues ex-Bagerhat DC office employee, 3 others for laundering Tk245cr
The Criminal Investigation Department's (CID) Financial Crime Unit has filed a case against former Bagerhat Deputy Commissioner's Office employee Abdul Mannan Talukder and three others for allegedly laundering over Tk245.23 crore.
The case was lodged with Bagerhat Sadar Police Station yesterday under the Money Laundering Prevention Act, 2012, CID's Special Superintendent of Police (Media) Jasim Uddin Khan confirmed the development in a press release today (6 November).
He stated that the accused collected around Tk245 crore from 19,967 general investors by luring them with promises of high profits through a company named New Bashundhara Real Estate Ltd. The funds, taken as deposits, were later diverted elsewhere.
The other accused are Md Anisur Rahman, Saleha Begum, and Jasmine Nahar, wife of Abdul Mannan Talukder.
Mannan, a resident of Dashani village under Bagerhat Sadar, worked as an MLSS (Class IV employee) at the DC office from 1984 to 2010 before retiring voluntarily.
CID informed that using his administrative connections and knowledge of land, he founded New Bashundhara Real Estate Ltd, registered with the Joint Stock Company and Firms, under the slogan "Manush Manusher Jonno."
Though the firm claimed to operate in real estate, 95% of its shares were owned by Mannan and his family, and 5% by co-accused Anisur Rahman.
The company allegedly lured the public into depositing money with promises to double investments within 4-5 years through a halal interest-free business model, CID said.
Instead of raising capital through the market as per its Memorandum of Association, the firm collected Tk245.23 crore from general investors up to June 30, 2018, and diverted the funds.
Mannan invested about Tk66.3 crore in six subsidiaries of his own Sabil Group, including Ajax Jute Mills Ltd, Sabil Dredging & Engineering Ltd, Sabil General Hospital, Sabil Agricultural Development Project, Sabil Law Plaza, and Sabil Fisheries Project.
The rest of the money was transferred anonymously to other entities, the release added.
The CID said Mannan transferred investors' funds to his own businesses through fraudulent leases, constituting large-scale money laundering.