Destiny must refund money

The government should urgently take steps so that Destiny Group refund the money it collected unlawfully from public, recommended the commerce ministry's initial findings.
The report has recently been sent to Finance Minister AMA Muhith.
The findings endorsed the Bangladesh Bank (BB) report that detected transfer of huge public funds into the personal accounts of the Destiny directors and its management committee members.
In March, the central bank report found that Destiny Multipurpose Cooperative Society, a sister concern of Destiny Group, as of December 31, 2012 had collected nearly Tk 2,000 crore in deposits and share capital from people. Of the deposit, a bulk amount was lent to its sister organisations while a small portion to its members.
“The Bangladesh Bank report was informative and factual,” said the very brief report of the commerce ministry.
Meanwhile, the six-member probe body led by the commerce ministry yesterday was given two more months to prepare a detailed report on the Destiny Group's 34 entities after it had failed to do so in three previous attempts.
The ministry formed the probe body on February 13 to examine whether the company and its subsidiaries function as per the memorandum of articles.

After the first attempt, the committee submitted its report in April, but the commerce ministry had termed it “ridiculous”, as it was incomplete.
The ministry sent back the report and gave the committee a second chance. But it failed again. Its third report, which has been submitted recently, proved to be unacceptable too.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith yesterday confirmed the media about the extended time for the probe committee.
“The issue is quite complex and we are trying to investigate comprehensively,” Commerce Secretary Ghulam Hussain told journalists yesterday at his office.
“We hope to submit the complete report in two months,” he said.
The secretary said the probe committee was investigating all the issues related to the Destiny Group -- from registration of the companies to spending as payment of commission and tax evasion.
Massive irregularities in Destiny prompted different government agencies including the Department of Cooperatives and the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to conduct investigations against the group's shadow business in the name of multilevel marketing company and cooperatives.
After getting proof of irregularities, the ACC in August filed two cases against the top brass of the Destiny Group under the Money Laundering Act 2012.