BB finds signs of money laundering

Soon after depositing investors' money in banks, Destiny Group directors withdrew almost all the money only to deposit it in their personal accounts to conceal the source of the money they collected through fraudulence.
A Bangladesh Bank report has revealed such fraud, concluding that such withdrawals are "indicative of money laundering," an offence punishable by seven years' jail term.
The Financial Intelligence Unit of the central bank sent an interim report on Destiny Group's bank transactions to the finance ministry last month, sources in the BB and the ministry said.
Three of the group's major concerns -- Destiny 2000 Ltd, Destiny Multipurpose Cooperative Society Ltd and Destiny Tree Plantation -- in their 252 bank accounts deposited Tk 5,118 crore, of which Tk 5,099 crore was transferred to personal accounts of their directors and several associated firms and was again withdrawn, the BB inquiry found.
All these transactions took place between 2001 and the first quarter of this year.
“It seems, the Group directors embezzled the huge amount of money in the name of taking commission through violating laws," the report said.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith asked the banking division to send the report to the prime minister after incorporating opinions of the commerce ministry and the Local Government Division, a finance ministry official told The Daily Star.
The finance ministry will take action against Destiny on prime minister's advice, the official added.
The laws under which Destiny Multipurpose Cooperative Society was registered do not permit deposit collection, the BB report said.
Those on the board of directors of Destiny Multipurpose Cooperative Society Ltd and Destiny 2000 Ltd are mostly the same persons and the benefit of their decisions went to a selected few, it added.
In the process, the cooperative society incurred a loss of Tk 686.53 crore, the liability of which falls on more than 9 lakh share holders the cooperative has.
Most of the transactions were done through 11 banks, including two foreign ones.
According to the report, the directors and associate companies of Destiny Group's 37 concerns have 443 bank accounts. Another 252 accounts were found closed.
Recently, the central bank froze most of the bank accounts of the group's sister concerns and their directors.
This followed news reports on numerous irregularities of Destiny 2000 Ltd after a Bangladesh Bank inquiry found evidence of illegal banking by Destiny Multipurpose Cooperative Society.
The Anti-Corruption Commission has already opened an investigation into the alleged irregularities and fraud.