UFS says will refund Tk235cr embezzled from mutual funds
Universal Financial Solutions (UFS) has promised to refund investors Tk235 crore, which it embezzled from four mutual funds by showing false investments and fixed deposit receipts (FDRs).
The asset management company sent a letter to the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) on Tuesday, promising to return the money within the next three months.
Syed Alamgir Farooq and Israt Alamgir, the parents of UFS Managing Director Syed Hamza Alamgir, who have fled the country, met the top officials of the commission recently.
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After that, the board met and sent a letter to the commission along with the resolution, and a top BSEC official confirmed this to The Business Standard.
An investigation by the commission revealed that the asset manager had embezzled Tk235 crore from four mutual funds.
UFS has promised to refund the money after the authorities decided to revoke its licence after filing a case under the Money Laundering Act against the firm.
As trustee and custodian of the funds, Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB) has filed two cases against the firm, which are being investigated by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
The top BSEC official further said Tk50 crore will be paid within the current month, of which Tk20 crore will be paid by 15 April and Tk30 crore by 29 April. The firm has promised to pay Tk75 crore in May and the rest by June.
The Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit has suspended the bank accounts of 25 individuals after the UFS scam.
According to the BSEC investigation report, Syed Hamza Alamgir has pocketed Tk235 crore of investors' money from four mutual funds using a number of tricks.
The four mutual funds that the UFSL embezzled from are the UFS-Bank Asia Unit Fund, the UFS-IBBL Shariah Unit Fund, the UFS-Padma Life Islamic Unit Fund, and the UFS-Popular Life Unit Fund, with an initial fund size of Tk430 crore.
According to the investigation report, UFS made four FDRs of Tk8 lakh. The bank documents were then doctored to change the amount to Tk49 crore as deposits.
Although he showed Tk58.9 crore investment in some companies owned by him, he actually made no investment. UFS has withdrawn the share sale amount of Tk63.87 crore from the listed company.
According to the investigation report, the company's chief investment officer Md Mominul Haque, manager Saqib Al Farooq and chief operating officer Hafizur Rahman Rajib were involved in the scams.
