Jamuna Group yet to finalise its decision to invest in Evaly

Jamuna Group has not finalised its decision to invest in Evaly yet, said two top officials of the Jamuna group.

Mohammad Alamgir Alam, director of marketing, sales and operation of Jamuna Group, yesterday said an audit is being conducted with the initiative of Jamuna Group to determine the liabilities of the customers and suppliers of Evaly.

In a Facebook post, Alam said as the audit activities have not been completed yet and the group has not got the final report of the audit yet.

"So, Jamuna Group is not yet ready to give any final official statement regarding the investment in Evaly," he said.

Once the audit is completed, the Jamuna Group will disclose its decision on investment and detailed working procedures before the media in due course, Alam added.

Alam gave the Facebook post hours after different news media reported that Jamuna Group will not invest in Evaly.

The statement comes the time when Evaly faces inquiries from the government.

The digital commerce platform in a submission to the commerce ministry on August 26 said it had nearly Tk 311 crore liabilities to  207,741 customers.

The sum is 45 per cent higher than the Bangladesh Bank found in a probe earlier.

Earlier  Evaly said, in another submission to the commerce ministry, that its liabilities to customers and merchants stood at a combined Tk 543 crore as of the middle of July.

The e-commerce company said it will submit its liabilities to merchants to merchants and a time-bound plan to clear the dues by September 2. 

Evaly submits the information following the commerce ministry's directive amid allegations of delayed delivery of goods even after advance payments by consumers.

Amid such development, Evaly, in a press release at the end of July, revealed that Jamuna Group will invest Tk 1,000 crore one to be part of the e-commerce platform.

The group will initially invest Tk200 crore and the rest of the money will be invested in phases, Evaly said.

In the Evaly's press release, Shamim Islam, managing director of Jamuna Group, said the current global business trend shows that e-commerce can play a vital role in the economic development of a country.

Following the statement, Jamuna Group Director Monika Islam told The Daily Star on Thursday night that they signed a memorandum of understanding.

"We are investing in Evaly," she said earlier.

She said the group would invest Tk 100-200 crore initially. "If needed, we will invest Tk 1,000 crore in phases and different forms."

Contacted on August 26 evening, Monika said, "Our contract (Memorandum of Understanding) with them is still valid and our audit is ongoing. We have given everything to an audit firm and our internal audit, accounts and law department is auditing their documents too."

"We will take the final decision after auditing," she said.

Contacted, founder and chief executive of Evaly Mohammad Rassel in a Whatsapp reply said, "Audit will be done before investment fund disbursement." He, however, did not elaborate.

Meanwhile, the platform is facing scrutiny by the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) whether it is involved in any money laundering activities.