Destiny dodged Tk 110cr in tax

The National Board of Revenue will soon sit with the Bangladesh Bank to discuss ways of realising the Tk 110 crore in taxes that Destiny Group has evaded over the last four years.
The controversial multilevel company gave the NBR a Tk 50-crore cheque in tax payment in August, but the tax regulator could not draw the money as Destiny's bank accounts remain frozen as per a central bank order.
The BB ordered the freeze in May upon finding that the MLM company was involved in illegal banking and money laundering.
Investigations into the tax dodging by 37 Destiny concerns and their top officials started in April and are still on, officials say, adding that their initial inquiry showed the group had evaded at least Tk 110 crore in taxes.
Of the amount, Destiny Tree Plantation had evaded Tk 78 crore and Destiny 2000 Ltd Tk 32 crore, an NBR official said, preferring to remain unnamed.
Upon detection, the NBR asked Destiny to pay the money, and the company issued a cheque of about half the amount but the money could not be realised due to the BB freeze.
Earlier, the revenue authority obtained a clearance from the Anti-Corruption Commission to realise the tax money from Destiny accounts. But the central bank did not agree to clear the cheque, according to an NBR official.
"We are going to sit with the Bangladesh Bank to settle the matter," said MA Quader Sarker, member of NBR's tax administration and monitoring department.
The NBR started looking into Destiny's tax records after the BB in March this year found that Destiny Multipurpose Cooperative Society was involved in illegal banking.
According to the BB findings, the Cooperative collected about Tk 2,000 crore in deposits and share capital from investors as of December 31, 2011.
Meanwhile on Monday, a probe team, led by the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms, suggested that the government take over the MLM company's assets to ensure that its investors got back their capital.
The committee in its report submitted to the Commerce Ministry said it had found evidence of money laundering by the Group. Its probe did not find accounts relating to Tk 3,800 crore.
Earlier on July 31, the ACC filed two money laundering cases against top Destiny officials for transferring Tk 3,285.26 crore in investors' money into their personal accounts.
The officials include Destiny Group Managing Director Rafiqul Amin, Destiny-2000 Ltd Chairman Mohammad Hossain, its Directors Lt Gen (retd) M Harun-Ar Rashid, Gofranul Huq and Sayed-ur Rahman.
In connection with the case, a Dhaka court last week asked the anti-graft body to take steps to freeze 532 bank accounts of Destiny Group and its senior officials, including Rafiqul Amin, Mohammad Hossain and Harun-Ar Rashid.