Controversial investor Abul Khayer, widely known as Hero, his father Abul Kalam Matber, Hero’s wife and sister and his other associates pocketed huge amounts of money after manipulating the share prices of NRBC Bank and Fortune Shoes Limited through serial trading, according to probes.
As the individuals violated various provisions of securities rules, the stock market regulator, BSEC, on July 6 imposed a penalty of Tk 5.25 crore on them for indulging in fraudulent trading activities.
As per Dhaka Stock Exchange’s data, the price of shares of Fortune Shoes increased by 94.67 per cent and NRBC Bank 172 per cent during the period from May to June of 2021.
The DSE conducted the probe during the same period.
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After analysing documents, it was observed that Abul Khayer, client of Agrani Equity & Investment Limited and UCB Stock Brokerage, was the eighth and 12th top buyer of shares of Fortune Shoes from May 20, 2021 to June 17, 2021.
Abul Kalam Matber, client of UCB Stock Brokerage and SBL Capital Management, was the second top buyer.
Hero’s wife, Kazi Sadia Hasan, client of SBL Capital Management, and his sister Konika Afroze, client of UCB Stock Brokerage, were the third top buyers.
As per DSE trade data, Hero and his associates bought a total of 3,07,03,294 shares of Fortune Shoes.
He traded 24.31 per cent of the total trade volume of the company's shares with the said BO (beneficiary owner) accounts and realised a capital gain of Tk 6.13 crore by trading the company shares during the investigation period. Moreover, his unrealised gain was Tk 23.89 crore.
Hero, his father Kalam, and wife Sadia were fined Tk 1.50 crore by the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) for violating securities regulations.
In addition, as per DSE trade data, Hero and associates bought 4,74,57,107 shares and sold 2,61,22,184 shares of NRBC Bank from both the block and public market during the period from May 5, 2021 to May 24, 2021.
With 11 BO accounts, Hero and his associates collectively traded more than 39.98 per cent of total trade volume and realised a capital gain of Tk 15.22 crore from the trading of the bank share during the investigation period.
Besides, they had a sizable unrealised gain of Tk 23.33 crore.
For this reason, the stock market regulator fined Hero and his sister Konika Tk 3.75 crore.
