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The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has arrested five people on charges of illegal banking activities and fraudulently extorting millions from unsuspecting customers.
The fraudsters used religion as a facade to entice people into making deposits with the organisation, according to Commander Khandaker Al Moin, director of RAB's media wing, reports bdnews24.com.
"The arrestees claim they owe their customers Tk 2 billion. But the customers say the figure is much higher. They have about 6,000 subscribers.”
The elite police unit nabbed the miscreants during raids in different parts of Narsingdi on Wednesday. All of them are residents of Narsingdi and have worked in different areas of the district.
The fraudsters have been identified as 50-year-old Shah Alam, chairman of Shah Sultan Cooperative Society Limited, and his associates Delwar Hossain Sikder, 52, Kazi Mane Ullah, 44, Sumon Mollah, 33, and Abdul Hannan Mollah, 30.
The RAB are on the lookout for the company's Managing Director Omar Faruque and Deputy Managing Director Masud Rana, said Moin.
Shah Sultan Cooperative began operations in Narsingdi after registering with the Department of Cooperatives in 2010. All 20 members of its board of directors had previous affiliations with various 'Shariah-based' banks, according to the RAB.
Later, they used their contacts to set up their own MLM business. Initially, each of the 20 founders invested Tk 700,000 in the venture. Within a year, they had gained around 6,000 customers.
They subsequently formed three more companies, namely Shah Sultan Textile, Swadesh Textile and Swadesh Properties, and opened branch offices across the Narsingdi district. The company later appointed 20 more directors.