Misappropriating Tk257.78cr: Destiny MD among 19 sentenced to 12 years in prison
Judge Md Robiul Alam of Special Judge Court-4 in Dhaka announced the verdict today
A Dhaka court has sentenced Rafiqul Amin, the managing director of Destiny Multipurpose Cooperative Society Limited (DMCSL), and 18 others to 12 years in prison.
They were sentenced in a case filed over the misappropriation of Tk257.78 crore from the MLM company's tree plantation project.
Judge Md Robiul Alam of Special Judge Court-4 in Dhaka announced the verdict today (15 January), said ACC Lawyer Mahmud Hossain Jahangir.
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The court set today for the verdict following the hearing on 11 November last year.
The convicts are- Managing Director Rafiqul Amin, Director Lieutenant General (Retd) Harunur Rashid, Head Office Chairman Md Hossain, Vice Presidents Mohammad Gofaranul Haque, Md Said-ur Rahman, Mejbah Uddin Swapan, Engineer Sheikh Tyebur Rahman and Gopal Chandra Biswas, Directors Syed Sajjad Hossain, Irfan Ahmed Sunny, Mrs Farha Diba and Jamsed Ara Chowdhury, Profit Sharing Distributor Md Jasim Uddin Bhuiyan, General Secretary of Destiny Multipurpose Cooperative Society Limited Zakir Hossain and member Md Abul Kalam Azad, Diamond Executives SM Ahsanul Kabir Biplab, Zobair Sohail and Abdul Mannan and Crown Executive Mosaddeq Ali Khan.
Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Deputy Director Md Mojahar Ali Sarker filed the case on 31 July 2012 against 12 persons, including Rafiqul Amin, with the capital's Kalabagan Police Station, on charges of embezzling and laundering the funds of customers.
ACC submitted a charge sheet before the court in the case against 19 people on 20 March 2014, after completion of the investigation. Names of seven others were included in the charge sheet as their involvement was found during the investigation.
On 24 August 2016, the court initiated the trial. As many as 140 witnesses
were examined during the trial of the case.
According to the case details, DMCSL cheated more than eight and a half lakh investors from July 2009 to June 2012 for their own benefit.
Thousands of crores of money were collected from investors in the name of providing loans, investing in non-profit organisations, and opening new companies, which the accused persons in the name of dividends, honorariums and salaries later diverted.
On the other hand, from 21 March 2006 to 17 February 2009, more than Tk2000 crore was collected from customers for Destiny Tree-Plantation Limited (DTPL) in the name of the sale of trees violating laws and regulations.
According to the prosecution, the accused persons embezzled the money as salaries, honorariums, dividends, special allowances or commissions in connivance with each other.
