Staff Reporter :
In a major crackdown on financial crime, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) apprehended eight individuals, including the mastermind behind a sophisticated fake loan racket, on Saturday.
The gang is accused of embezzling crores of taka from various banks through a web of deceit involving forged documents and fraudulent identities.
The elaborate scheme involved the creation of fake National Identification Cards (NID) and Taxpayer Identification Numbers (TIN) using fabricated information.
These forged documents then served as the foundation for the creation of phony apartment ownership certificates, fabricated in collaboration with corrupt registry office officials.
Armed with these counterfeit documents, the gang approached unsuspecting banks and secured substantial loans by mortgaging the fake properties.
Investigations conducted by the CID revealed that the gang had successfully swindled banks out of a staggering Tk 50 crore using their web of lies.
CID also confirmed that the mastermind behind the audacious operation was identified as 40-year-old Joynal Abedin Idris.
CID officials revealed that Idris, living a life of conspicuous wealth, had amassed a personal fortune built on stolen funds. His ill-gotten gains included a palatial seven-story building in Dhaka’s affluent Bashundhara Residential Area and a collection of eight luxury apartments scattered across the city.
Furthermore, investigators suspect that Idris may have established other businesses solely for the purpose of laundering the stolen money.
The investigation also unearthed evidence suggesting that Idris employed forged documents to sell off several of the fraudulently acquired apartments.
The CID’s operation apprehended not only Idris but also his key accomplices. These included his brothers, Md Rakib Hossan (33) and Mostafizur Rahman (54), along with collaborators like NID office employee Md Liton Mahmud (40), land registry office employee Habibur Rahman (30), and several bank officials allegedly involved in the scheme – Hiru Maula (44), Abdus Sattar (54), and Syed Tarek Ali (54).
Addressing a press conference at the CID headquarters on Saturday afternoon, CID chief and Additional Inspector General of Police Mohammad Ali, elaborated on the details of the case.
He revealed that Idris possessed no fewer than six different NID cards, each bearing a fictitious identity.
“Idris used this elaborate scheme to amass a vast fortune,” Mohammad Ali remarked.
The CID chief also highlighted the extent of Idris’s ill-gotten wealth, including the palatial residence and the collection of luxury apartments.
The CID’s investigation into this complex case is ongoing. Authorities are currently searching for a man named Shahidul Islam, believed to be one of Idris’s primary collaborators in the fraudulent scheme.
Idris’s two wives, Rummana and Rabeya Akhter Mukta, are also suspected of playing a significant role in the operation and are being investigated accordingly.
