CID sues 13 over laundering Tk608cr through gold smuggling, fraud with US citizen
According to CID, when a US citizen was cheated by a Bangladeshi citizen, the CID started its investigation based on the communication between the US intelligence agency and the Bangladeshi intelligence agency.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has filed a case against six named and five to seven unnamed people on charges including laundering of Tk608 crore through gold smuggling, financial fraud with a US citizens and hundi operations.
The Financial Crime Unit of the CID filed the case under the Money Laundering Prevention Act, 2012 (Amended 2015) with Kotwali Police Station in the capital, Jasim Uddin Khan, special superintendent of police (media) at CID, confirmed in a statement today (1 October).
The accused in the case are: Manindra Nath Biswas (50), Wahiduzzaman (52), Md. Golam Sarwar Azad (51), Md Tariqul Islam alias Ripon Fakir (49), Rajib Sardar (37) and Ujjwal Kumar Sadhu (38).
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According to CID, when a US citizen was cheated by a Bangladeshi citizen, the CID started its investigation based on the communication between the US intelligence agency and the Bangladeshi intelligence agency.
The CID said its investigation revealed that the fraudsters had established a relationship with American citizen Deborah Johnston Ramlow 'Debi' through various means.
According to the case statement, the fraudsters allegedly embezzled $2,22,000 (approximately Tk2,70,16,351.72 at the current rate) by posing as the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).
The investigation revealed that the fraudsters forced the victim American citizen through deception and blackmail to send the embezzled money to various Bangladeshi students in America.
On the other hand, the accused received money from the guardians of these students from Bangladesh into bank accounts in the names of various institutions.
In addition to the organised fraud, the accused have been allegedly conducting hundi activities for a long time. The accused in this organised fraud and hundi operation have been opening bank accounts in the names of various organisations and have been transacting large amounts of money for a long time, according to CID.
The organisations that have come up in the investigation are Inox Fashion, Bhai Bhai Enterprise, Zaman Enterprise and Noah Enterprise, the CID said.
In addition, information about illegal transactions has also come up in the account named as Manindra Nath Biswas, the accused in the case.
During the investigation into the allegation of cheating of a US citizen, the CID also revealed that the accused are also involved in gold smuggling.
They have been allegedly collecting scrap gold from people coming from the Middle East and from various shops in Dhaka's Tanti Bazar and other places through special contacts, melting it and converting it into polished gold bars and smuggling it for a long time.
The investigation revealed that these smuggled gold bars were mainly smuggled into India through Satkhira border.
The initial investigation further revealed that through these activities, the accused allegedly transferred and converted over Tk608.33 crore.
