Three members of ‘gift fraud’ gang arrested
The trio communicated with people from different parts of the country and collected information about their bank accounts. They used the bank accounts to transact money that they got thru fraudulent activities
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Police has arrested three people including the main accused in connection with a case related to a "gift fraud" gang that swindled money out of people in the name of gift-giving using social media platforms.
The arrestees are Md Kayes Hossain, 32, main accused of the case, Shahida Khatun, 25, and Md Sujan Majhi, 28. Kayes and Shahida hailed from Rajshahi and were staying in Narayanganj, while Sujan hailed from Chandpur.
The CID team arrested them in a case filed with Shibpur Model Police Station in Narsingdi under Digital Security Act, 2018. The case was filed on September 26, 2019, said a press release.
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Acting on a tip-off, the cyber team of the CID arrested Kayes and Shahida. Based on information provided by them, the CID conducted a drive and arrested Sujan from the Segunbagicha area in Dhaka.
They arrestees an important part of the Nigerian "gift fraud" gang, the press release also said.
The CID team seized 48 cheque books of different names and banks, 185 pages of cheques, most of them are signed, four mobile mobile phone sets and one debit card from their possession.
According to sources, the trio communicated with Bangladeshi nationals from different parts of the country and collected information about their bank accounts. They used the bank accounts to transact money that they got through their fraudulent activities.
The trio told their prey that they have various business transactions but if they keep all the money on their own accounts their accounts will be locked. The fraudsters then asked the victims for permission to use their bank accounts on the condition that they will provide a percentage of the money that will be transacted through the accounts. They also collected account holders' cheque books and signed cheques.
The account-holders and the trio each got five percent of the money that was transacted through those accounts, said the sources.
On July 22, CID arrested 12 Nigerians and a Bangladeshi woman from the Pallabi area of the capital. All of them were the members of the "gift fraud" gang.
The gang used social media platforms to cheat people in the name of gift-giving. And the Bangladeshi woman used to collect money from the victims posing as a customs officer.
In the briefing on July 22, additional deputy inspector general (DIG) of CID Sheikh Md Rezaul Haider said that during primary interrogation, they found that in the last two months, the accused swindled Tk5-6 crore from more than 100 victims across the country.
