Evaly's Rassel, Shamima sent to jail in cheque dishonour cases
Rassel was arrested under conviction warrants in 10 cases, and Nasrin under two cases involving embezzlement and forgery.
A Dhaka court has sent Evaly's Chief Executive Officer, Mohammad Rassel and the company's Chairperson, Shamima Nasrin, to jail in connection with ten cheque dishonour cases.
Dhaka's 7th Joint Metropolitan Sessions Judge Md Nizam Uddin issued the order today (20 January), showing Rassel arrested under conviction warrants in 10 cases, and Nasrin under two cases involving embezzlement and forgery, and sent the couple to jail, Bench Assistant Shamim Ahmed confirmed the development.
"Both of them received varying prison terms and fines in ten cheque dishonour cases, while Shamima received similar sentences in two cases," Shamim said.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
Additional Police Commissioner and DB Chief Md Shafiqul Islam told TBS that a team of the Detective Branch (DB) arrested Rassel and Nasrin this morning from the capital's Dhanmondi area.
Both Rassel and his wife Shamima face a total of 391 arrest warrants across several police stations, including Dhanmondi, Kafrul and Savar. Of these, 263 are against Russell and 128 against Shamima, the DB chief added.
Evaly, the online marketplace, created a sensation after its launch in December 2018 by advertising cars, motorbikes, furniture, smart TVs, fridges, air conditioners and washing machines at half price.
Drawn by these flashy offers, many customers paid large sums in advance, hoping to resell the products at higher prices for profit. But months passed without delivery, and Evaly failed to refund the advance payments.
Eventually, Evaly fell into debt of Tk543 crore owed to customers and suppliers.
Amid widespread controversy, from mid-2021, customers staged protests against Evaly and several other e-commerce firms over allegations of fraud and embezzlement.
On 16 September 2021, RAB arrested Rassel and Shamima from Mohammadpur and interrogated them in remand. After eight months in jail, Shamima secured bail in all cases and was released on 6 April 2022. Rassel, on the other hand, was freed on bail on 19 December the following year.
In the meantime, several fraud cases against them resulted in convictions.
