Muhammad Ayub Ali :
Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) has decided to take stern legal actions against Moshiur Securities over the allegations of embezzlement of shares and funds of its investors.
As part of these actions, the BSEC has decided to file complaints against the directors and officers of the Securities agency to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to take action under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) member Moshiur Securities (Track No. 134) embezzle about Tk 161 crore from investors of the capital market which is the biggest fraud in the history of the capital market.
Nearly Tk 685.8 crore was embezzled from the Consolidated Customer Account (CCA) and Tk 923.5 crore from the sale of shares which is the biggest fraud by a single brokerage house.
The regulatory body also decided to send a letter to the ACC on an urgent basis to impose a ban on the directors and officers of the brokerage house from fleeing abroad.
A senior BSEC official, who did not wish to be named, told The New Nation that there have been allegations of embezzlement against Moshiur Securities for a long time. The BSEC’s investigation has proven it. Therefore, the BSEC has decided to send a complaint to the ACC to take action against the directors and officers of the brokerage house under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
The commission has decided to inform the Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) to take action to permanently freeze the transactions of the bank accounts of the owners and related officials of the company.
This decision has been taken based on the report submitted by the investigation committee formed earlier regarding Mashiur Securities.
According to the sources, on August 20, 2024, the DSE inspection team found a deficit of Tk 68.58 crore as a consolidated customer of Mashiur Securities.
At the same time, the inspection team received information that Tk 92.35 crore was removed from the sale of shares held in the BO accounts of various investors.
Later, referring to this information, a full inspection report was submitted to the commission on August 28 of last year.
In continuation of this, on August 29, BSEC formed a five-member investigation committee to investigate allegations of various irregularities and illegal activities against the company.
The members of the committee are BSEC Deputy Director Mohammad Emdadul Haque, Assistant Director Md. Maruf Hasan, Assistant Director Amit Kumar Saha, Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) Manager Mohammad Ikram Hossain and Central Depository Bangladesh Limited (CDBL) Manager Sharif Ali Irteraj.
It was investigated whether more than two BO accounts were opened using the same mobile number, e-mail, bank account and whether any transactions were made in the capital market through the company’s directors, CEO, authorized representatives and other employees.
Earlier, on June 24, 2020, Crest Securities had a deficit of Tk 124 crore, on June 15, 2021, Banco Securities had a deficit of Tk 128 crore, and on November 29, 2021, Tamha Securities had a deficit of Tk 140 crore.
The destitute investors who fell into the trap of Mashiur Securities’ fraud and lost their capital drew the attention of all concerned, including the chief advisor, financial advisor, and demanded the return of their invested money, through a press conference at the Capital Market Journalists Forum (CMJF) office at Bijaynagar, in the capital recently.
At the same time, they demanded punishment for the directors and officers of the fraudulent company Mashiur Securities, as well as the corrupt officials of DSE and BSEC.
