The Criminal Investigation Department of police on Wednesday filed 17 cases against 28 people including Beximco Group founder and vice-chairman Salman F Rahman on charges of laundering around Tk 1,000 crore abroad under the guise of export trade.
The Financial Crime Unit of CID filed the cases with Motijheel Police Station in Dhaka, according to a press release issued by CID on Wednesday.
CID said that they conducted the investigation under the Money Laundering Prevention Act against 17 apparel companies owned by Beximco and linked to Salman and his brother ASF Rahman, also the chairman of Beximco Group.
The primary investigation found that the accused persons were involved in laundering about Tk 1,000 crore ($83 million) by exporting goods through 93 letters of credit or sales contracts obtained from Janata Bank鈥檚 local office branch in Motijheel鈥檚 Dilkusha.
During the investigation, CID found that a total of 17 Beximco-linked companies were involved in exporting goods worth around Tk 1,000 crore to various countries, including the UAE.
The companies are Adventure Garments Limited, Apollo Apparels Limited, Autumn Loop Apparels Limited, Bextex Garments Limited, Cosmopolitan Apparels Limited, Cozy Apparels Limited, Esses Fashions Limited, International Knitwear and Apparels Limited, Kanchpur Apparels Limited, Midwest Garments Limited, Peerless Garments Limited, Pink Maker聽 Garments Limited, Platinum Garments Limited, Skynet Apparels Limited, Springfull Apparels Limited, Urban Fashions Limited, and Winter Sprint Garments Limited.
Despite the legal requirement to repatriate export proceeds within four months, the investigation found that the accused, including Salman F Rahman, failed to do so, leading to allegations of deliberate money laundering, said CID.
The export proceeds, however, were not brought back to Bangladesh after the stipulated time by these companies during their export activities between 2021 and 2024.
According to CID findings, most of the exported goods were sent to Sharjah, UAE, and Saudi Arabia by RR Global Trading (FZE), jointly owned by Ahmed Shayan Fazlur Rahman, son of Salman, and Ahmed Shahriar Rahman, son of ASF Rahman.
The goods were also exported to different countries, including Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, Turkey, and Sri Lanka, without bringing the export value to Bangladesh.
The investigation further revealed that Salman F Rahman and his associates used their influence and laundered money abroad with the help of an 鈥榦rganised criminal group鈥�.
Salman, former private industry and investment adviser to former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, was largely untouchable during the 16-year rule of Hasina. He was arrested on August 13 and is now in jail.
CID said that separate investigations were now ongoing at its financial crime unit against Salman and companies linked with Beximco Group on allegations of taking loans amounting to about Tk 33,470 crore and transferring the funds abroad, along with other financial irregularities.
On September 28, the Anti-Corruption Commission decided to launch an inquiry against Salman over allegations of his involvement in stock market manipulation and embezzlement of thousands of crores of taka from shareholders.
Salman, also a former Awami League lawmaker from Dhaka-1 constituency, allegedly misused his influence to obtain around Tk 36,000 crore in loans from public and private banks, embezzle funds, and launder thousands of crores of taka abroad, said ACC officials.
