PBI arrests three members of 'Royal Cheating Department' 

The Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI)  arrested three members of a fraud gang named the "Royal Cheating Department" (RCD)  from Uttara of the capital on Saturday.

The arrestees are -- Abdul Bari (66), Rashed alias Rasel (37), and Naeem (43), said Jahangir Alam, special superintendent of PBI (North), briefing reporters at his office on Sunday.

The PBI official said the said gang had swindled vast sums of money through elaborate schemes targeting businesspeople. 

The mastermind of this group has been identified as Abdul Bari, also known as Afsar Uddin Khan, and Bazlur Rahman Masud, has multiple criminal cases against them, he added.

Bari has six fraud cases against him and yet continued to engage in criminal activities after getting out on bail.

Jahangir Alam said Bari used to introduce himself as a big businessman.

"He [Bari] used to live in Malaysia. After returning from there, he started cheating in 2013. So far, this gang has swindled more than a crore taka," the PBI official estimated.  

According to PBI officials, Saiful Islam, a Chandpur-based trader, placed an advertisement in a newspaper to sell a piece of land months back. The "Royal Cheating Department" (RCD) invited him to their Uttara office under the guise of genuine interest in purchasing the land.

They lured Saiful to invest in the watch business with an Indian partner with promises of easy profit. 

Tempted by the offers, Saiful, along with his relative Abdul Mannan, entrusted Tk20 lakh as an initial deposit with the fraudsters. He also planned to invest more by selling lands the following day of depositing the money.

However, as soon as the money changed hands, everyone involved in the scheme switched off their phone numbers.

Realising that he has been conned, Saiful managed to track down one of the gang members in Uttara and promptly alerted the police.

Subsequently, Abdul Mannan filed a case with the Airport Police Station on 30 July .