As financial scams keep unfolding in the country, members of Criminal Investigation Department (CID) arrested Saiful Islam, director of ringID, a social media platform, from Gulshan in the capital on Friday on charge of misappropriating huge money.
The arrest followed a case filed by an aggrieved person against 25 people, including 10 named and 15 unnamed ones, with Bhatara police on September 30.
CID's Cyber Police Centre started investigation into it, reports UNB.
During primary interrogation, Saiful admitted that his organisation, the ringID, did not get any approval from the authorities concerned to collect deposits from users.
Though the ringID started its journey as a social media platform, it later started collecting deposits from people advertising various value-added services, including foreign investment, community jobs and other services in the social media platform.
The controversial social media platform allegedly embezzled over Tk 2.0 billion in just three months this year by alluring people in its investment (Ponzi) scheme promising online income.
Of the money, it received Tk239.4 million in May, Tk 1.09 billion in June and Tk793.8 million in July from community job sector, according to a CID press release.
The CID has already requested the Bangladesh Bank to freeze all the bank accounts of the ringID so that it cannot launder the money, which was deposited by people.
Meanwhile, the CID got information that a number of cases were filed with different police stations against the ringID across the country.
CID is expected to interrogate Saiful bringing him under remand for gleaning information about the other people involved in it and how and where the money they keep.
Saiful was arrested at a time when the country's e-commerce sector has been rattled by scams of different e-commerce platforms like E-valy, eorange and Dhamaka.
Evaly's fraudulence
Evaly CEO Mohammad Rassel and his wife Shamima Nasrin were arrested after an aggrieved customer, Arif Baker, lodged a case with Gulshan police station accusing them and few other company executives of embezzlement and fraudulence.
Sub-inspector Ahidul Islam, the investigation officer of the case, said the case was registered over the allegation of embezzlement of money and fraudulence.
Besides, the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU), an arm of the Bangladesh Bank that specialises in financial crime investigations, directed all the commercial banks and financial institutions through a common letter on August 27 to freeze all the bank accounts operated by top executives of Evaly.
The Directorate of National Consumer Right Protection, a department under the Commerce Ministry, received allegations from consumers about "cheating" by Evaly.
Bangladesh Bank officials said one of the major allegations against Evaly is forcing its consumers to deposit their money in the e-wallet of the firm which was totally illegal.
E-orange
On September 2, a Dhaka court sent virtual outlet e-orange.shop owner Sonia Mehzabin, her husband Masukur Rahman and, Chief Operating Officer, Aman Ullah to jail in a fraud case filed over embezzlement of Tk 11 billion from consumers.
Earlier on August 23, Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Morshed Al Mamun Bhuiyan placed the accused on a 5-day remand in the fraud case.
On August 17, the court sent them to jail rejecting their bail prayers when they surrendered to Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Abubakar Siddique's court.
On August 16, an aggrieved customer of E-Orange Md, Taherul Islam, filed a fraud case with Gulshan police in presence of 37 other customers who testified against the accused.