A judge has summoned the managing director of Toyota Bangladesh and two other officials to appear in court in a case filed over allegations of fraud and breach of trust.
On Sunday, Dhaka’s Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Jashita Islam, gave this order after accepting the investigation report submitted by the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) in the case.
The three officials have been ordered to appear in court on March 5.
The accused are Toyota Bangladesh’s Managing Director Premjit Singh, Toyota Tsusho Asia Pacific Vice President Akio Ogawa, and Toyota Tsusho Corporation’s General Manager Asif Rahman.
It is worth noting that Premjit Singh is a Malaysian citizen and Akio Ogawa is a citizen of Japan.
Court sources indicate that the plaintiff is Shafiul Islam, who filed the case on 9 July on behalf Navana Limited, accusing the three individuals of being involved in fraudulent activities intended to harm the Navana’s business interests.
According to the case details, Navana Limited and the Toyota Tsusho Corporation are business partners and, for a long time, Navana has been operating as the sole distributor of the Toyota brand for Bangladesh.
However, the accused, with the intent to weaken this sole distributorship system, deliberately presented false and biased reports regarding market conditions and operational performance against Navana Limited. Through this, Navana’s business capability and image with Toyota were damaged.
Meanwhile, upon concluding the investigation and finding evidence supporting the truth of the allegations, the investigating officer of the case, PBI Inspector Syed Sajedur Rahman, submitted the report to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court in Dhaka on 8 December.
The report states that the accused intentionally delayed the production of vehicles ordered by customers. Furthermore, by not supplying the mandatory “Manufacturer’s Invoice” for customs clearance, they disrupted Navana’s normal import and supply process.
As a result of these activities, Navana Limited suffered financial losses and its reputation was harmed. The company faced risks of customs-related complications and penalties.
