Home ›› 08 Feb 2022 ›› Stock
The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) has directed the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and Tamha Securities’ directors to liquidate the entire assets of the scam-hit brokerage firm and pay back the investors’ embezzled money.
The stock market regulator wrote to Tamha Securities’s managing director and other directors on Monday, asking them to deposit the sale proceeds to the DSE by May 31.
Following the liquidation, the DSE will settle the investors’ claims after proper verification. The BSEC also asked the DSE to report every week about the money settlement.
Tamha Securities allegedly embezzled around Tk 87 crore of investors’ money. The DSE suspended its trading operation on December 9, 2021.
Affected stock investors in the securities house are now demanding their money back as soon as possible.
According to the BSEC letter, the managing director and other directors must sell the entire assets mentioned in the deed agreement between the directors of Tamha Securities.
The DSE must also report to the commission every week about the settlement of the investors’ claims.
The affected investors recently held a press briefing demanding their money back.
On behalf of around 200 affected investors, Fakhrul Islam placed the demand at a press briefing at the Capital Market Journalists’ Forum Auditorium in the capital on February 2.
Fakhrul Islam alleged Tamha Securities embezzled the investors’ money due to the absence of strict monitoring on the part of the BSEC and the DSE.
“We have invested our hard-earned money here. But now we have lost everything, “he said.
The investors alleged that Harunur Rashid, owner of Tamha Securities, and his two sisters, sold shares of its clients using duplicate software due to a lack of strict monitoring.
He said the brokerage firm illegally used two back-office accounting software procedures—one for the regulator and stakeholders, and the other for its clients, to provide misleading information.
Under these circumstances, investors do not have any way to know the true facts and are thus deceived by their brokerage firm.
Fakhrul Islam said if the regulatory bodies had been monitored strictly, such fraud would not have taken place.
“After the suspension of share transactions, we immediately contacted the Central Depository Bangladesh Ltd and found that we did not have any shares,” he alleged.
Fakhrul Islam said the Tamha Securities authorities changed the mobile numbers of more than 200 clients without informing them.
Using duplicate software, Tamha Securities used to send us share and sale information via SMS and mail. Because of this, they did not understand their fraud.
A BSEC investigation committee discovered that the stock brokerage firm illegally used two back-office accounting software procedures—one for the regulator and stakeholders and the other for its clients—to provide misleading information.
Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) had frozen the bank accounts of Tamha Securities, its Managing Director Md Harunur Rashid, and other related people in connection with the alleged embezzlement of investors’ money.
The agency took the decision on January 5 after being requested by the BSEC. As a result, they are unable to withdraw or transfer the money from their account.
Earlier, it suspended the operations of Banco Securities for allegedly taking away Tk 66 crore and that of Crest Securities for Tk 48 crore through manipulating data.
