The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of police has arrested three more individuals in two separate cases related to embezzlement of huge sums of money by deceiving ordinary people through fake investment groups operating under the names of foreign companies on Telegram.
The arrestees are Md Imran, Md Fahim, and Asaduzzaman Rabbi. The CID informed this in a press release signed by Special Superintendent of Police (Media) Jasim Uddin Khan on Monday.
The CID stated that on Sunday, Md Imran and Md Fahim were arrested from the Dock Shipyard area under Bandar Thana in Narayanganj district, and Asaduzzaman Rabbi was arrested from the Paikpara area under Mirpur Thana. The complainant in the case had sent a total of Tk4,33,476 to the arrested Fahim’s bank account in two installments.
Fahim’s bank account was controlled by Imran. A total of Tk48 lakh was transacted through Fahim’s bank account. Additionally, the CID has obtained information from Imran’s mobile phone regarding cryptocurrency, including Binance accounts, which are banned by Bangladesh Bank, along with other important information.
Furthermore, from the device seized from Asaduzzaman Rabbi, the CID has obtained information about fake Telegram IDs and the operation of activities within Telegram groups.
The CID stated that during primary interrogation, all three confessed to the fraud. They have been sent to court with a request for 10 days’ remand. Additionally, quoting police, it was learned that Fahim and Imran were in jail in Gazipur last September.
Regarding the investigation of the case, citing the CID, it was learned that the fraud ring had long been operating fake groups on the Telegram app under enticing names like “Foreign Investment Platform” and others, luring ordinary people to invest by promising high returns in a short time. When victims joined the group, some members already present in the group would post fake and staged posts about how they had made high profits by investing in a short time.
In reality, these members were active accomplices of the ring, and the posts were completely false and misleading. Ordinary people, tempted, would send money to various bank and Mobile Financial Service (MFS) accounts according to the group’s instructions. These accounts were mostly opened in the names of third parties, many of whom were unaware of the actual purpose. Later, the fraudsters would use these accounts to illegally transact and embezzle money. Many investors lost their entire savings in this manner.
The investigation further revealed that the criminals used novel techniques to convert the money collected through fraud into cash. The mastermind, Fardin Ahmed, would purchase cars from various showrooms through bank transactions and then sell them quickly at lower prices, showing a loss on paper, thereby withdrawing cash. Illegal money was “cashed out” using this method.
