A fast-expanding digital commerce platform, Promise Mart, has come under fresh scrutiny amid allegations that it is operating a sprawling Ponzi and MLM network behind the facade of e-commerce, drawing in at least Tk520 crore from nearly 70,000 customers.
An investigation by TIMES of Bangladesh has found that while the company promised to import goods from China and generate profits through trade, actual product sales amounted to only about Tk1.80 crore.
The whereabouts of the remaining funds remain unclear, intensifying fears of large-scale financial deception.
Sources identified Masud Alam, former chairman of the controversial Nagadhat e-commerce venture and now managing director of Promise Group, as the central figure behind the scheme.
According to officials familiar with the matter, Nagadhat earlier collected more than Tk100 crore before shutting down, after which Promise Mart was launched.
Masud Alam has also courted controversy over a Tk297 crore training project under the Ministry of Youth and Sports, carried out through e-Learning and Earning Ltd.
A senior Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) official told TIMES that investigations into alleged illicit wealth accumulation and overseas money transfers involving Masud Alam are ongoing. His bank accounts have been frozen and travel abroad restricted.
Documents and customers’ accounts reviewed by TIMES show that Promise Mart aggressively marketed unusually high returns. In many cases, investors were told that placing Tk5 lakh would yield Tk9 lakh within 36 months.
While the company claimed returns would come from importing and selling Chinese goods, the investigation found no verifiable evidence of substantive trade activity. Instead, multiple sources indicated that payouts to earlier participants were funded largely from new customer inflows — a hallmark of Ponzi structures.
A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation in which returns to earlier investors are paid using money collected from new investors rather than from genuine business profits.
To sustain cash flow, Promise Mart built a referral-bonus pyramid. Participants earned higher commissions, ranks and bonuses based on the number of new members they recruited.
Sector insiders say the model’s primary revenue driver appears to be member acquisition rather than product sales, aligning closely with high-risk MLM schemes.
An MLM, or multi-level marketing scheme, is a business model in which participants earn income mainly by recruiting new members into a tiered network rather than by selling genuine products or services.
“This structure is inherently unsustainable,” said a sector expert who reviewed the model. “Once new money slows, the system typically collapses, leaving late entrants exposed.”
Legal experts warn that Promise Mart’s operations may breach multiple laws.
Under the Multi Level Marketing Control Act 2013, running MLM activities without a licence is illegal. Soliciting deposits through promises of high returns may also violate Bangladesh Bank directives and, depending on fund flows, could trigger provisions of the Money Laundering Prevention Act, experts say.
If allegations of non-existent product sales are proven, liability may also arise under consumer protection laws.
Supreme Court lawyer Shah Shibly Noman told TIMES that the Digital Commerce Guideline 2021 explicitly prohibits MLM or network businesses through digital commerce platforms. It also bars any form of digital money business without Bangladesh Bank approval.
Echoes of Nagadhat
The resurfacing of Masud Alam’s earlier venture has deepened concern. Around 2019, Nagadhat Bangladesh Ltd drew large advance payments by offering steep discounts and cashback schemes. Investigations later showed limited product delivery, with operations funded partly by new customer money to build market confidence.
When collections reportedly swelled into several hundred crore taka, supplies abruptly stopped, triggering widespread customer outrage.
Multiple victims told TIMES that Nagadhat customers were later encouraged to shift to Promise Mart. Some alleged they were told that recovering stuck funds required fresh investment in the new platform, described internally as “investment adjustment”, effectively enabling a second round of fund collection.
Allegations of serious irregularities have also emerged involving e-Learning and Earning Ltd, described in official documents as a sister concern of Promise Group.
Investigation records indicate that the company secured contracts worth Tk297 crore under a training project run by the Ministry of Youth and Sports.
However, the tender process, the appointment of trainers, the disbursement of allowances and the overall implementation of the project have all raised significant concerns among investigators.
Aggressive recruitment drive
Investigation sources said the network targeted the public through lavish seminars, river cruises, training workshops and investment presentations designed to build psychological buy-in. Using MLM techniques, potential investors were gradually nudged into committing large sums.
Entrepreneurs associated with the company have claimed to customers that Promise Group’s total assets stand at around Tk1,000 crore, although TIMES could not independently verify the figure.
Customers described a structured pitch. They were invited to offices, encouraged to purchase imported goods at wholesale rates and assured that Promise Mart would handle resale if needed over a 36-month period. The company said it would retain a 10 per cent service charge from sales proceeds.
Several customers said they were shown dashboards reflecting purchases of Tk10 lakh worth of goods at a 50 per cent discount for Tk5 lakh. They were promised the amount would grow to Tk10 lakh after three years, with Tk1 lakh deducted as a service charge and Tk9 lakh paid out.
Sector specialists say no legitimate business in Bangladesh can sustainably double capital in three years under such a structure.
“This clearly fits the Ponzi template,” one expert said. “Early participants may receive payments, but the majority typically suffer losses once inflows dry up.”
They warned that if new money slows, the structure could collapse abruptly, potentially leaving tens of thousands of families financially devastated.
Regulator flags risks
Transparency International Bangladesh Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman said similar Ponzi schemes in the past had left hundreds of thousands of people financially harmed, with fraud rings fleeing abroad after siphoning off thousands of crore taka.
He urged relevant government agencies to take proactive action to curb such operations.
Echoing the caution, Bangladesh Bank spokesperson Arief Hossain Khan told TIMES that after the Evaly episode, policies were tightened to discourage sales of goods and services backed by unusually high return promises.
“Promise Mart’s activities appear to resemble a networking business,” he said. “Such models are considered risky and are restricted under existing policy frameworks.”
Managing Director of Promise Group Masud Alam told TIMES that customers who wish to take delivery of products immediately are free to do so. Those who do not wish to receive products in cash form instead build teams and transfer products to customers within their networks.
He added that the business is expanding as teams are being formed through customers’ own initiatives.
