ACC to sue ex-police inspector Sohel Rana over embezzling Tk28cr at E-orange

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has decided to file a case against former Dhaka Metropolitan Police inspector Sheikh Sohel Rana, an associate of controversial e-commerce company E-orange, on charges of embezzling over Tk28 crore.

Sohel allured customers with lucrative offers at E-orange and cheated them. He deposited around Tk28.49 crore collected from the online customers in 31 bank accounts in his name as well as his associates. He later withdrew Tk28.46 crore from those accounts, which has been regarded as his illegal wealth, said Arif Sadeq, deputy director of ACC.

ACC has asked its Deputy Director Md Monaem Hossain to file the case against Sohel under the Money Laundering Prevention Act, 2021 the Anti-Corruption Commission Act, 2004 and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947.

Earlier, in 2021, Sohel was arrested by the Indian Border Security Force for crossing the India-Bangladesh border illegally. The Bangladesh Police sought information about Sohel from Delhi, but they have not shown any interest or replied to Bangladesh's request for Sohel's deportation.

Three people, including E-orange owner Sonia Mehzabin and her husband Mashukur Rahman, are currently in jail in a case filed over embezzling money.

After receiving an allegation from a client regarding Tk1,100 crore embezzlement in E-orange, ACC formed an investigation team headed by its deputy director Monaem Hossain to unearth the e-commerce scam.

During the investigation, ACC found that approximately Tk500 crore was transacted through several scheduled banks, while the rest might have been laundered illegally, said sources at ACC.

Sohel, a suspended police inspector, possesses a huge amount of assets in Dhaka, Khagrachhari, and his native village Gopalganj, the ACC officials have found.

Investigators have also found that Sohel has made investments in Portugal, France, the UK, the Philippines, Thailand, and Nepal without the Bangladesh Bank's permission.

He has a super shop, bar and restaurant in Lisbon, Portugal and a restaurant and a bar in France.

The suspended police inspector also invested Tk100 crore near the Hilton Hotel in the tourism city Pattaya of Thailand. He has a casino and a restaurant in Kathmandu of Nepal.

ACC said Sohel bought around a dozen of flats in Badda's Suvastu Nazar Valley Complex, Banani, Gulshan, Uttara, Bashundhara residential area E-block and Purbachal Sector-3.

The law enforcement officials of Bangladesh said Sohel planned to flee to Nepal by road and relocate to a European country.

Before he was arrested on 17 August, E-Orange customers filed a case against the owners and staff members of the e-commerce platform for reportedly embezzling around Tk1,100 crore by not delivering products.

An Azampur resident Md Abu Taher in the capital filed the case on behalf of 37 customers with Gulshan Police Station against the owners and staff of E-Orange, mentioning five names.