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Eight men, including a journalist, were arrested in Dhaka between Sunday and Monday for their alleged involvement in e-commerce fraud.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) arrested 24tkt.com Director Mizanur Rahman Sohel over allegations of online air ticket fraud. Sohel is also a journalist and heads the online department of a leading Bangla daily, according to CID.
At a press conference at its Malibagh headquarters on Monday, Additional DIG (Cyber Investigation and Operations) Kamrul Ahsan said the fraudulent online ticketing service collected Tk 50 crore from almost 2,000 customers by luring them with a 20 per cent discount on air tickets.
“However, the customers found that no tickets were registered under their names after arriving at the airport,” he added.
Meanwhile, CID arrested six officials, including the head of operations, of e-commerce platforms Tholay.com and Wecoom.com on Sunday for allegedly embezzling Tk 2.5 crore.
In a statement on Monday, CID said the arrests were made after a complaint was filed against the e-commerce companies.
The arrestees are — head of operations of the virtual outlet Md Nazrul Islam, account officer Md Sohel Hossain, 27, digital communication officer Md Tareq Mahmud Anik, 28, sales executive officer Md Sazzad Hossain alias Piyash, 27, call centre executive officer Munna Parvez, 26, and supervisor Md Masum Hasan, 27.
The officials arrested swindled customers out of crores of taka through fraudulence using lucrative advertisements of selling different products at cheaper rates, the statement said.
CID’s Additional Deputy Inspector General Imam Hossain said they got reports of fraudulence from some victims. “Many are still waiting for refunds as the e-commerce companies did not deliver products. The owner of both e-commerce platforms, Sakib Uddin, is on the run,” he said.
In a separate development, Bangladesh Bank has seized about Tk 200 crore owned by RingID in response to a request from CID over a fraud case filed against the e-commerce company.
Ayrin Islam, chairman of RingID, and Sharif Islam, managing director, both of whom have Canadian passports, are currently in Canada.
They were arrested on December 27, 2016 for allegedly embezzling Tk 240 crore from the government through call fraud using Teletalk number. The couple had been in jail for a month and a half, but after being released on bail, they managed to flee the country using a Canadian passport.
CID’s Ahsan said they would seek Interpol’s assistance to bring back the owners of the company.
Meanwhile, CID arrested on Md Redwan Rahman from Kamrangirchar area of the capital on Sunday in this case.
RingID’s Director Saiful Islam was arrested from Gulshan earlier this month for allegedly embezzling Tk 213 crore from customers.
RingID had collected the money between May and July this year by luring people with promises of employment and profit through investment in foreign companies. The firm embezzled Tk 23.94 crore in May, Tk 109.13 crore in June and Tk 79.38 crore in July.
