Four arrested over Tk 300m bank loans taken with 10 fake NID cards

Police have arrested four people, including a data entry operator of the Election Commission’s NID wing, in connection with Tk 300 million bank loans taken by using fake national ID cards.

Pallab Das, the data entry operator, got the job through a company the commission appointed as an outsourcing agent, the Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police said on Saturday.

The name of another arrestee, Zainal Abedin alias Idris, was used to secure the loans, according to the police, reports bdnews24.com.

He made wealth in Dhaka and his home district with the money, and had a plan to draw more Tk 500 million from different banks, police said.

The two others, Rafiqul Islam Khan and Alif Hossain, allegedly assisted Zainal in the fraud, said DMP Additional Commissioner Harunor Rashid at a media briefing.

Zainal was arrested from his office at Mirpur DOHS on Friday. The rest were apprehended following information provided by Zainal.

Zainal used to run an imitation jewellery business. He got involved in fraud after incurring losses in that business, Harun said.

The suspect opened a company for operating fraudulent activities and prepared false deeds for seven more firms. He used to draw loans using the documents through officials of different banks.

The names and addresses were real, but the number of each NID was different, the DB official said.

Zainal provided photos with beard, or with moustache, or without beard and moustache for these NIDs. He used to provide photos from the past and apply for bank loans showing the same land, same flat and same office.

 “Zainal opened an office named ER International at DOHS. He used to apply for various bank loans showing the office in seven different names,” Harun said.

 “He built a seven-story building in Dhaka’s Bashundhara, a house in Madaripur and bought eight to nine flats in the capital’s Uttara, Ashkona and in various locations with the money.”

Police also recovered 50 counterfeit seals of different government agencies from Zainal’s office. Harun said Zainal used to prepare fake income tax files and fake land deeds with the help of an official to secure bank loans.

Pallab, who worked at the commission’s NID server in Rangpur, provided the NIDs to Zainal, Harun said.

Zainal took advantage of the password he received from Pallab which was used by one of the officials at his office. Pallab used to take Tk 200,000 to Tk 300,000 per NID from Zainal.

Harun said police will seek the suspects’ remand for grilling and try to find out if Pallab provided such NIDs to other people.

Police will also investigate if anyone else from the commission is involved with Pallab in the fraudulent activities.