A Dhaka court on Friday sent two men to three-day remand for allegedly creating fake advertisements using artificial intelligence and deepfake technology to sell illegal sexual stimulant drugs carrying fake endorsement from Islamic preacher Mizanur Rahman Azhari.
Metropolitan Magistrate Md Shiddiq Azad issued the order following a request from the Paltan Police Cyber Protection Unit.
Sub-Inspector Samim Hasan, the investigating officer, had sought a seven-day remand to help identify accomplices and trace the financial network behind the scam.
The accused, Md Abdur Rahman Manik alias Rahat, 28, and Furkan Mia, 22, were arrested in separate raids in Dhaka and Chattogram by Paltan Model Police the previous day.
According to the investigation, the suspects operated multiple fake Facebook pages using AI-generated videos and advanced graphic design, creating the false impression that Mizanur Rahman Azhari endorsed their products.
They misled the public into purchasing sexual stimulant drugs through websites, including ash-shifaorganic.com.
Authorities confirmed that neither Mizanur Rahman Azhari nor his family had any involvement in the fraudulent scheme.
Mizanur Rahman Azhari first noticed the fake videos on 15 February last year while at Popular Diagnostic in Shantinagar. The videos used deepfake technology to replicate his voice and likeness, deceiving the public into buying substandard drugs.
He subsequently warned his followers through his verified Facebook page, and on 23 March, his office assistant, Billal Hossain, filed a formal complaint with Paltan Police.
The remand request states that the suspects’ activities were part of a nationwide fraud network that involved payments for Facebook advertisements in US dollars.
Authorities said the remand is necessary to identify others involved in producing and selling the illegal drugs, trace the sources of funds used for online advertisements, track the distribution of illicit earnings, and interrogate the suspects to locate and apprehend additional members of the fraud ring.
