RAB arrests man for swindling crores in ponzi scheme

The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has arrested the owner of a cooperative society that swindled depositors in a number of districts including Kushtia and Magura out of crores of taka with the promise of high returns. 

Janata Savings and Lending Co-operative Society Limited managed to collect around Tk50-70 crore from around 7,000 depositors before it vanished with most of the sum, closing its around forty offices in the districts in 2017, Rab said.  

A team of Rab-3 arrested the organisation's owner Abul Kalam Azad, 53, from Dhaka's Kalyanpur area on Tuesday, the law enforcement agency said during a press conference on Wednesday.  

Members of the cooperative society filed at least sixty cases with different police stations after the offices had been closed. Azad was wanted in at least 32 of the cases.

Khandaker Al Moin, RAB's legal and media wing director, told the media that Azad established the organisation in Kushtia's Daulatpur upazila in 2003 in order to run a "ponzi scheme."

In 2013, he expanded his operations to several other districts including Khulna, Meherpur, Magura, Pabna, Sirajganj and Rajshahi.

With the swindled money, he acquired 15 bighas of land, a six-storey building in Kushtia, 11 bighas of land in Rajshahi, several flats in Dhaka's Uttara, and a luxury car, Moin said.

Around 800 employees of the cooperative society used to collect deposits mostly from low- and middle-income professionals.

RAB also said that they lured new members with the promise of 18-20% annual profit on investment. In order to gain depositors' trust, they also used to promise monthly high profits and honour these pledges during the first few months of the contract.

The organisation was apparently paying for the profits with deposits from newer members.

Once a local correspondent in Kushtia of a national daily, Azad also established a real estate company named "Thikana Living Limited".