BSEC again finds Shakib’s involvement in stock manipulation
BSEC, however, did not take any steps against the cricketer as his trading of shares was not as significant as that of Hiru and others
Recent investigations by the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) once again found the involvement of cricketer Shakib Al Hasan in the share price manipulation of IPDC Finance Limited.
The name of the ace allrounder, who has been serving as goodwill ambassador of BSEC since 2017, also cropped up in the stock market regulator's previous investigation on the share manipulation of four other companies.
According to the BSEC's latest report, Abul Khayer Hiru, deputy registrar of the Department of Cooperatives, and his accomplices hiked the share price of IPDC Finance Limited by around 61% between March and April this year through serial trading.
The BSEC investigation found that Shakib Al Hasan at the time bought some 11 lakh shares of IPDC Finance Ltd and later sold 10.69 lakh shares through using his own Beneficiary Owners (BO) Account with EBL Securities.
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BSEC, however, did not take any steps against the cricketer as his trading of shares was not as significant as that of Hiru and others.
On 30 October, the BSEC issued a letter saying that the controversial stock market player Abul Khayer Hiru and his associates had been fined Tk1.50 crore over their involvement in stock manipulation.
According to BSEC sources, Hiru and his associates were involved in the trading of 45% of IPDC shares while Shakib was involved in trading only 1.80% of the shares. Hiru and his associates made a profit of Tk14 crore by manipulating the shares of IPDC.
Rezaul Karim, executive director of BSEC, told The Business Standard, "Many names have come up in the IPDC share manipulation investigation. Action is taken against only those who can be proven guilty under the law."
Shakil Al Hasan could not be contacted in this regard.
A top official of a brokerage firm said, "Hiru is an established gambler in the stock market and Shakib has fallen into his trap. Shakib, however, is being spared from the penalty as he is also an influential personality."
Apart from Shakib, EBL Securities Ltd and its Managing Director Md Sayadur Rahman have been named as big sellers in the investigation report. At the time, EBL Securities sold 80 lakh shares of IPDC and Sayadur Rahman sold 15 lakh shares.
Shakib's name keeps popping up in share manipulation
According to the BSEC investigation, Abul Khayer Hiru and his associates were also involved in the share manipulation of four companies – EBL Securities Ltd, Trust Bank Investment Ltd, IIDFC Securities Ltd and SBL Capital Management Ltd.
They manipulated the stock price through serial trading. Shakib was involved in this serial trading through his BO accounts at the four aforementioned companies.
The BSEC, however, has not taken any action against Shakib despite fining Hiru and his associates a total of Tk9 crore for manipulating the market, even though they made a profit of Tk39 crore at that time.
Shakib's company, Monarch Holdings Ltd, commenced its journey as a brokerage firm with the trading right entitlement certificate (Trec) licence of the Dhaka Stock Exchange in 2020. Shakib is the chairman of this company and the managing director is Abul Khayer Hiru's wife Kazi Sadia Hasan.
The brokerage firm was also fined by the BSEC for allegedly manipulating shares of BDCom Online.
