Refund Tk420cr found in UniPay2U account to customers: SC
The Supreme Court has ordered the refund of Tk420 crore found in a bank account of UniPay2U, a controversial multilevel marketing (MLM) business, to its customers.
An Appellate Division bench headed by Chief Justice Obaidul Hassan also asked the authorities concerned to transfer the money to the government treasury.
"The Tk420 crore deposited by UniPay2U customers was found in BRAC Bank's Elephant Road branch. The court ordered the money to be transferred to the public treasury for refunding to the customers," said Barrister Aneek R Haque, who, along with Advocate Rafsan Alvi, represented the defrauded customers at the hearing.
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"It has also been ordered to put advertisements in newspapers calling the customers to apply [for a refund] to the government within 30 days. After verifying the applications, the government will refund the money accordingly," he also said, mentioning that the court order followed an appeal moved by the customers.
UniPay2U was sued by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) in 2011 after allegations of fraudulent activity and corruption were brought against it.
According to the case statement, the UniPay2U authorities had laundered Tk3,500 crore of investors' money. It also said that another Tk2,500 crore was stowed away in the country.
On 23 January 2019, the Dhaka Special Judge's Court sentenced six officials of UniPay2U Bangladesh Limited, including its chairman and managing director, to 12 years' rigorous imprisonment.
The court also fined them around Tk2,702 crore and directed them to pay the fine in favour of the state.
The court also confiscated around Tk420 crore seized from the convicts' accounts and all properties of UniPay2U in favour of the state and directed the authorities – including the finance and commerce ministries and the Bangladesh Bank – to return this money to the defrauded investors.
It also asked the government to bring back the money smuggled abroad and distribute it among the defrauded UniPay2U investors.
