From rickshaw puller to millionaire
As if in a twist of fate, Mozibar now have more than hundred crores of taka, but the source of his income was not honest work
Mozibar Rahman is a good-looking man when dressed in suit and shoes.
The 55-year old, hailing from the southern district Patuakhali, has a lavish life with luxurious cars and several residences in Dhaka and Chattogram. He has recruited hundreds of employees at his various institutions in those two cities.
Mozibar has donated to different mosques and other religious institutions in Kolapara area of Patuakhali, his native home. People from the region call him "Hatem Tai" (an analogy with Arabian poet Hatem Tai known for his extreme generosity).
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The man is also known to many as a big entrepreneur who changed the life of many people.
Looking back at his past around 15 years ago, Mozibar was making a meagre living as a rickshaw puller. He had left Patuakhali for Chattogram in search for a better life and started to pull rickshaw in the port city.
From dawn till dusk, he struggled hard for around 10 hours a day to make a living. But Mozibar desired more, and all this hard work to make such little money was never going to satisfy him.
As if in a twist of fate, Mozibar now has more than one hundred crore taka. But the source of his income was not honest work.
Mozibar, along with his five cohorts, illegally amassed crores of taka by cheating people out of their money through several fraudulent institutions such as "Rupsha Multi-Purpose Co-Operative Society" and "Rupsha Development Foundation".
From almost nothing, the racket became millionaires over the years by embezzling money deposited by people in those co-operative societies.
Their deceit finally came to light after a Serious Crime Investigation team of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police's Detective Branch (DB) arrested three members of the gang – Russel Hawlader, Musa Hawlader and Golam Foysal, from the port city's EPZ area on Wednesday.
The police also seized Tk8.42 crore from the office of the Rupsha Development Foundation. The same day, one of the victims to the racket Enamul Haque Enam filed a case against Mozibar and his five associates.
Among them, three have been arrested and the three absconding accused are – ringleader Mozibar Rahman, Zakir Hossain Hawlader and Ezazul Khan.
A Dhaka court has granted three days of remand of the arrestees.
Solaiman Miah, the additional deputy commissioner of the Detective Branch, said, "In 2006, the racket launched a fraudulent business from Chattogram, and now they have luxurious offices in the capital and in the port city."
"We are trying to nab the gang leader, Mozibar. He has been on the run from the law since 2018," he added.
According to sources, the gang usually opens an office in a suitable area and recruits a large number of staff. They then target people and convince them to deposit money in the company on a high interest rate.
The gang collects deposits from people and pay them interests for at least one-and-a-half years. Then the racket suddenly shuts down the office, embezzles all the deposited money and shifts to another suitable place. The cycle is then repeated.
The racket has amassed more than a hundred crore taka by cheating on the depositors, said sources from the DB.
According to the First Information Report, the plaintiff complained that the racket swindled him out of Tk3.10 crore and disappeared from the Dhaka office.
Speaking with The Business Standard, plaintiff Enamul said, "My sister and I deposited crores of taka to the multi-purpose company's Paltan office in 2017.
They paid us interests on the deposited money for around a year. Then they shifted their office in 2018."
"I was searching for them since they moved. At last, the detectives have tracked them down," he added.
