The High Court has directed the concerned bodies of the government for conducting a probe into the allegations of money laundering against the owners of the controversial e-commerce platform E-orange.
The Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) and Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) have also been ordered to submit a report after inquiring into the money laundering allegations before the court in four months.
The High Court bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Kazi Md Ejarul Haque Akondo passed the order on Thursday after hearing a writ petition filed in this regard.
On behalf of 547 defrauded consumers, Afjal Hossain, Arafat Ali, Tarequl Alam, Sakibul Islam Shohag, Rana Khan and Habibullah Zahid filed the petition on April 3 this year.
The HC also issued a rule upon the respondents to explain in four weeks as to why the inaction and failure of them in taking appropriate legal action against the responsible persons including Sheikh Sohel Rana, a police inspector and also patron of E-orange, Sonia Mahjabin, proprietor of E-orange, and Bithi Akter for laundering money obtained from consumers should not be declared illegal.
It also wanted to know in the rule as to why the respondents should not be directed to take appropriate legal action against the responsible persons including Sheikh Sohel Rana, Sonia Mahjabin, and Bithi Akter for laundering money.
It also wanted to know in the rule as to why the respondents should not be directed to recover the money from Sohel Rana, Sonia Mahjabin, Bithi Akter, and other responsible persons and to distribute it among the defrauded consumers of the E-orange including the petitioners according to the proportion of their loss.
Secretaries to the Ministry of Commerce and Home Affairs, Governor, Bangladesh Bank, Chairman, Anti-Corruption Commission, Inspector General of Police (IGP), Head of Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU), Sheikh Sohel Rana, Patron of E-Orange, Sonia Mahjabin, Proprietor of E-orange, and Bithi Akter, have been asked to comply with the rule.
Lawyers Ahsanul Karim and Abdul Qaium appeared in the court hearing on behalf of the petitioners, while Deputy Attorney General AKM Amin Uddin Manik represented the state.
Abdul Qaium later said, “The court also asked to inform it about the steps taken to repatriate the accused persons including Sohel Rana if they have fled the country.”
On August 17, last year, customers filed a case against the owners and staff of E-orange for reportedly embezzling around Tk 11 billion by not delivering their products. Sonia, her husband Masukur Rahman and some other staff are behind bars now.
