ACC steps aside from probe against Evaly

Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has decided to step aside from investigating the controversial e-commerce platform, Evaly.

Talking to the reporters ACC Chairman Moinuddin Abdullah said grafts committed by Evaly is out of the purview of scheduled offences of the ACC.

"Previously, we were considering the money laundering aspects of Evaly.", he said.

Meanwhile, on Monday the High Court (HC) appointed Mahbub Kabir, an officer on special duty (OSD) and former additional secretary of Railway Ministry as the managing director (MD) of the controversial e-commerce platform, Evaly.

The HC also formed a four-member new board of Evaly which will be led by former Appellate Division Judge, AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik.

According to Evaly's assessment, it has assets amounting to Tk121 crore, while it owes customers and merchants more than Tk1,000 crore.

The company took money in advance payments, luring people with massive discounts on products on its site and promising delivery within 7-45 days.

However, many buyers are yet to receive the items they ordered even after the promised delivery deadline.

In some cases, Evaly offered a refund to customers following their failure to deliver, but in many cases, the cheques bounced because of insufficient funds in Evaly's bank account.

Several cases have been filed against Evaly CEO Mohammad Rassel, and his wife Shamima Nasrin who is the chairman of the company, on allegations of embezzlement and cheque fraud. The couple was arrested on 16 September.