Illicit Fund Transfers: ACC probes 2 telecom firms

Staff Reporter :

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has initiated cases against senior executives of two telecom companies, Vision Tel Ltd and Apple GlobalTel Communications Ltd, for laundering hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue generated from international call traffic.

Akhtar Hossain, the Director General (Prevention) of the
ACC, confirmed the cases during a press briefing on Sunday in Segunbagicha, Dhaka.

The case against Vision Tel Ltd reveals that between September 2012 and September 2013, the company handled 173.22 billion minutes of international calls, generating revenue of $519,674,646. However, instead of repatriating the funds to Bangladesh, as required by law, no money was returned.

The ACC’s investigation found that Vision Tel’s Managing Director, Russell Mirza, and Chairman, M. Badiuzzaman, were responsible for the unauthorized transfer of these funds, amounting to approximately Tk4,049 crore.

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has also confirmed that the company has not yet settled its outstanding dues with the government.

In a separate case, Apple GlobalTel Communications Ltd processed 301.22 billion international call minutes between September 2012 and June 2015.

The company should have repatriated $642,366,665 to Bangladesh, but only $40,581,143 was returned, leaving an outstanding balance of $601,785,521, or Tk4,633 crore.

Apple GlobalTel’s Managing Director, Abhiur Rahman Khan, and Chairman, Mohiuddin Majumder, are accused of orchestrating the illicit transfer of these funds.

Both cases fall under the Money Laundering Prevention Act, 2012 (Sections 4(2) and 4(3)) and the Penal Code (Section 409), which address criminal breach of trust and financial misconduct. The ACC report also highlighted significant failures in financial oversight and regulatory compliance within Bangladesh’s telecom sector.