Tk 100cr Embezzlement: Crest Securities chair, wife held

Detectives on Monday arrested the chairman of Crest Securities limited Md Shahid Ullah and his wife Nipa Sultana Nupur, who is a director company, on charges of embezzling a huge amount of their clients' fund.

On June 22, the couple shut down the stock brokerage house, where around Tk 100 crore is deposited by some 22,000 BO account holders, and went into hiding, police said.

They were arrested by a team of DB police's Ramna division from an area between Laxmipur and Noakhali on Monday.

Abdul Baten, additional commissioner of DMP's detective branch, told the media that Shahid Ullah admitted after primary interrogation that he transferred around Tk 18 crore to his own account.

"He had plans to transfer all of the Tk 100 crore to his own accounts," the official said while briefing journalists at the DB office in Dhaka yesterday.

On top of this, Shahid Ullah and his wife allegedly borrowed around Tk 30 crore from around 45 people promising them profitable returns, but then embezzled that money too, said law enforcers.

Baten said they would investigate whether the embezzled money has been siphoned off abroad or kept in the couple's accounts.

After the brokerage house was closed without prior notice on June 22, its investors were left worried about their money and shares. The same day they transferred back Tk 18 crore to their accounts.

Following this, two clients filed two cases against the firm with Paltan police, accusing Crest Securities of embezzling their funds.

According to information on the company's website, Crest Securities Ltd was incorporated in mid-2006 with its registered headquarters at 57, Purana Paltan, Dhaka. The company has three branches in Dhaka, Narayanganj and Cumilla.

As outrage over the issue grew among the company's clients, Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) Managing Director Kazi Sanaul Hoq said, adding that the problem can be solved by selling the company's broker licence and assets.

DSE has already frozen shares and mutual fund units, totaling Tk 82 crore in value, of more than 21,000 investors who traded through the brokerage house, Hoq said in a press conference.

Besides, DSE has asked the central bank to freeze over 10 accounts linked to the company.