Telegram-based job scam: Six, including five Chinese nationals, placed on remand

A Dhaka court has ordered six people, including five Chinese nationals, to be placed on a two-day remand under the Cyber Security Ordinance Act over allegations of defrauding people through Telegram-based job scams and deceptive online offers.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Jewel Rana passed the order on Tuesday (13 January) after a hearing.

The accused sent to remand are Bangladeshi national Md Zakaria and Chinese nationals Chen Ling Feng, Zeng Kong, Zeng Changqiang, Wen Jian Qiu and Huang Zheng Jiang.

Earlier, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Detective Branch (DB) arrested eight members of an alleged international online fraud syndicate accused of swindling large sums of money by luring victims with promises of jobs and high-return investments. 

The other two Bangladeshi nationals arrested are Niaz Masum (20) and Kamrul Hasan, also known as Hasan Joy (38).

The investigating officer, Sub-Inspector Arup Talukder of the DB's Web-Based Crime Investigation Team, produced the six accused before the court and sought a three-day remand for each.

Photo: Courtesy

According to the remand application, Zakaria and his associates collected bKash and Nagad agent SIM cards registered in the names of various individuals from different locations, with the intent of illegal profit, and handed them over to the Chinese nationals.

During interrogation, the Chinese nationals stated that they had been residing in Bangladesh for a long time and had been collecting bKash and Nagad agent SIM cards from different parts of the country. Using laptops and mobile phones, they allegedly operated illegal online gambling sites and conducted transactions through those agent SIMs. 

The accused admitted their involvement during interrogation, police said.

Investigators alleged that the group colluded to siphon off large sums of money online by offering various enticing schemes, using illegally registered SIM cards, mobile financial service accounts and bank accounts. 

Information indicating illegal transactions through bKash and Nagad was found on the recovered SIM cards, which requires further verification.

Police said that due to time constraints, sufficient information could not be collected during initial questioning, necessitating further interrogation. 

While defence lawyers sought cancellation of the remand and applied for bail, the prosecution opposed the plea. 

After hearing both sides, the court granted a two-day remand for each accused instead of the three days sought by police.

Following the arrests, law enforcement officials recovered 51,251 SIM cards from various mobile operators, 51 mobile phones and 21 Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) gateway devices from the suspects.

Deputy Police Commissioner Hasan Mohammad said the DB's Web-Based Crime Investigation Team under the Cyber and Special Crime (North) Division had been investigating complaints related to online job scams, Telegram-based fraud and similar cybercrimes. 

Intelligence-led surveillance was conducted on several suspected syndicates operating in the capital.

Based on the findings, DB carried out a raid in the Bashundhara Residential Area under Bhatara Police Station on Thursday (7 January), arresting Niaz Masum and Kamrul Hasan. 

Further operations led to the arrest of six more individuals, including five foreign nationals, from Sector 9 of the Uttara West Police Station area on Sunday (12 January).

During the Uttara raid, police recovered seven VoIP gateway devices, 47 mobile phones, 184 SIM cards and five laptops.

The syndicate allegedly operated through VoIP gateways and used eye-catching advertisements circulated on platforms such as Telegram and WhatsApp to deceive victims. Police said the group collected significant amounts of money and laundered the proceeds abroad through cryptocurrency transactions.

The deputy police commissioner added that Niaz Masum and Hasan Joy had already been produced before a court, while legal proceedings against the remaining arrestees were under way.