Air freight carrier Sky Capital Airlines Limited has laundered around $10 million under the guise of purchasing three aircraft, using a shell company in Hong Kong – Asia’s major hub for illicit fund transfers.
The money was transferred in three phases through army-controlled Trust Bank and the state-owned Rupali Bank, according to documents obtained by TIMES of Bangladesh.
A month-long investigation uncovered that the laundering took place by inflating purchase prices and using fake documents. Following probes by the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) and the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) is now conducting a further investigation into the laundering.
Sky Capital’s parent company Blue Planet Group is one of the country’s leading textile conglomerates, also involved in hospitality. Its chairman Arifur Rahman, a former cadet college student who was once in journalism and worked in a tea estate, has come under scrutiny after Saturday’s devastating fire at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, where Sky Capital Airlines’ name surfaced in several media reports.
Documents reviewed by TIMES of Bangladesh show that Sky Capital officially purchased three cargo aircraft worth $5.27 million yet transferred $12.15 million abroad in three rounds. The first aircraft was purchased in 2013 and the rest two in 2015. Five months after importing two aircraft through a letter of credit (LC), the company opened another LC and transferred funds overseas again – without importing any aircraft in return.
According to records, on 11 October 2013 Sky Capital signed a $2.27 million deal with the Philippine firm Heli Craft Aero Industries to buy a used Boeing 737-209. However, it opened a $3 million LC through Trust Bank’s Dilkusha Corporate branch, which is $725,000 higher than the contract value.
Chairman Arifur Rahman strongly argued that a $6 million LC was opened for the Boeing purchase, suggesting the actual payment exceeded the contract by $3.73 million – bringing the total laundered amount to $9.88 million (Tk120 crore).
Further evidence shows Sky Capital continued similar practices in 2015 and 2016, when it signed a $3 million contract with Indonesia’s PT Indonesia Transport & Infrastructure Tbk for two used Fokker-50 cargo aircraft. But again, the company over-invoiced and paid $6.2 million via Trust Bank’s Dilkusha corporate branch through LC No. 235915010313/2015 – more than double the contract value.
The most startling finding: instead of paying the Indonesian supplier, the LC payment was diverted to a Hong Kong-based textile machinery company, Hongyuan Texmach Industrial Co Limited.
Investigations confirmed Hongyuan Texmach had no connection with the aircraft supplier and was never involved in the aviation business. TIMES has learned from Hong Kong’s Joint Financial Intelligence Unit (JFIU) that the company – founded in 2011 and dissolved in November 2023 – had been accused of facilitating money laundering across multiple countries.
In November 2024, several US lawmakers also warned their then Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen that Hong Kong had become a global hub for financial crimes.
Email correspondence among the three companies (in Bangladesh, Indonesia and Hong Kong shows that the Indonesian supplier requested Sky Capital’s Managing Director Major (retd) Khalil Bin Wahid for paying to an account at PT Bank MNC International Tbk. Instead, Sky Capital sent the money to Hongyuan Texmach’s account at China’s Ping An Bank Nanjing branch, which also has operations in Hong Kong. China’s central bank had fined Ping An Bank 13.34 million yuan in 2018 for severe compliance violations.
Documents show that the LC opened at Trust Bank’s Dilkusha branch on 19 October 2015 listed one aircraft, but in November that year, Sky Capital actually received two aircraft from the supplier at Indonesia’s Husein Sastranegara International Airport and accepted by COO Wing Commander (retd) Md Hasan Masud – indicating deliberate fraud.
Even more suspiciously, five months after receiving those planes, on 13 April 2016, Sky Capital opened another LC at Rupali Bank’s Local Office branch, mentioning a different aircraft serial number – the one omitted from the Trust Bank LC. Trust Bank’s LC listed serial no-20316, while Rupali Bank’s LC cited 20186.
Denying any wrongdoing, Chairman Arifur Rahman said, “The LC opened with Trust Bank was not opened with any other bank. One LC cannot be opened twice. This allegation is false.”
However, his statement only underscores the deliberate sophistication of the fraud, as all the money transferred through Rupali Bank was laundered abroad in the name purchasing aircraft.
Bangladesh Bank officials who reviewed both LCs were astonished. They confirmed this reporter that the dual LCs with different aircraft serials allowed the launderers to bypass the central bank’s foreign exchange monitoring dashboard, which is designed to prevent multiple LCs for the same import.
According to Bangladesh Bank data, Sky Capital paid $2.95 million on 10 May 2016 through Rupali Bank for a fake contract with Hongyuan Texmach. Neither Trust Bank nor Rupali Bank questioned how a textile company could sell aircraft, nor did they verify whether any plane was imported after the second LC.
Sky Capital’s website confirms no new airplane added to its fleet since then – it still operates three cargo planes.
Bangladesh Bank Spokesperson Arief Hossain Khan said, “In cases of trade-based money laundering, banks cannot evade responsibility. A simple Google check reveals the market price of goods and the legitimacy of the recipient company. If bankers act ethically, such laundering can easily be prevented.”
Similar opinion was expressed by Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman. “Mis-invoicing involves banks, customs, and port authorities. Without collective collusion, over- or under-invoicing is impossible. All parties involved must be held accountable.”
Meanwhile, ACC has already investigated Tk122 crore [nearly the same amount found by this news outlet] LC fraud by Sky Capital Airlines Limited. The matter is under further investigation, confirmed Additional SP Arafat Ahmed, an investigator of the anti-graft body.
When Sky Capital laundered money via Rupali Bank, its Managing Director was M Farid Uddin, who could not be reached for comment.
Bidhan Chandra Pramanik, then head of the Dilkusha branch Foreign Trade Division and now in-charge at Trust Bank, confirmed he had signed the LC documents but claimed, “No branch of Trust Bank has authority to take any financial decision. All proposals go to the head office, the credit committee, and executive committee, if needs, finally to the board for approval.”
When this correspondent reached out to the current Trust Bank MD Ahsan Zaman Chowdhury over phone, he said he had no idea about the old matter. But he dismissively said, “Why should I give you client information? Who owns your newspaper? I will talk to them.”
At the time of Sky Capital’s transactions, Trust Bank’s MD was Ishtiaque Ahmed Chowdhury, later accused of loan fraud involving Tk59 crore at Europa Group, according to ACC.
Investigation concludes that the laundering scheme could not have been executed without active bank cooperation, which the central bank tacitly acknowledges. Yet, more than a decade later, both BFIU and the banks remain silent about the fraudulence and laundering.
Documents obtained by TIMES show that Arifur Rahman maintained close ties with Sheikh Hasina’s family, including her nephew Radwan Mujib Siddiq Bobby, before the July uprising that ousted Hasina. Multiple agencies are investigating allegations of large-scale money laundering linked to the former ruling family.
Rahman also allegedly had close connections with dismissed army officer Mujibur Rahman, accused of using threats and influence on banks to secure loans him.
Rupali Bank insiders, speaking anonymously, said that many of Blue Planet Group’s loan files carried “references” from then Special Security Force (SSF) DG Mujibur Rahman, which allowed the bank to extend facilities outside normal procedures.
The Group, which flourished during the fallen regime, expanded through fraud, deceit, and bank manipulation. TIMES of Bangladesh has obtained further evidence of irregularities involving its sister concerns.
As of last month, four of Blue Planet Group’s entities owe Tk1,209 crore to Rupali Bank, against collateral worth only Tk161 crore – a mere 13 percent security coverage.
Documents show, Sky Capital alone took Tk158 crore in project loans from Rupali Bank for three old aircraft worth Tk41 crore, now ballooning to Tk172 crore with interest. After defaulting, the company rescheduled the loan by paying Tk1.4 crore. The project initially received Tk50 crore financing from Trust Bank, later taken over by Rupali Bank.
Rupali Bank Managing Director Kazi Md Wahidul Islam said, “I am not aware of Sky Capital’s money laundering issue. We will look into it.”
