Panel formed to pay back Jubok victims

The commerce ministry yesterday formed a seven-member panel to find ways to return funds to the clients of Jubok, a multi-level marketing company that embezzled deposits, said Hedayetullah Al Mamoon, senior commerce secretary.

The committee is headed by Abdul Mannan, a joint secretary of the commerce ministry. The panel, which is scheduled to submit the report by September 30, will review the recommendations of the two commissions formed to earlier to investigate the forgery by Jubok, Mamoon said.

“We will take action as per the recommendations of the committee.”

It is not possible to turn Jubok into an MLM company as it was formed before the formulation of the MLM law last year, he said. “So the clients should get their investment back.”

Around 3.03 lakh clients of Jubok have been waiting for years to get back the money they deposited, mainly because of the government's indecision.

None of the clients, who were lured by Jubok into depositing their money for big returns, received any fund even after a government commission recommended returning their money—about Tk 2,588 crore—by selling Jubok's assets.

The government formed two commissions, one in 2010 and the other in 2011, headed by former governor of Bangladesh Bank Mohammad Farashuddin and former joint secretary Rafiqul Islam, aiming to return the money.