Court defers probe report in case against Shakib, 14 others

A Dhaka court has again deferred the submission of an investigation report in a case against former Bangladesh cricket captain and former lawmaker Shakib Al Hasan and 14 others over alleged stock market manipulation, fraud and money laundering.

The court of Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Md Shahjahan Kabir set November 17 as the new date for submitting the report after the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), which is investigating the case, failed to complete its probe within the scheduled time.

The report was due on Wednesday (September 23), according to the ACC’s general registration (GR) branch.

Besides Shakib, the accused include Department of Cooperatives Deputy Registrar Abul Khayer, his wife Kazi Sadia Hasan, Abul Kalam Madbar, Konika Afroze, Mohammad Bashar, Sajed Madbar, Aleya Begum, Kazi Fuad Hasan, Kazi Farid Hasan, Javed A Matin, Zahed Kamal, Humayun Kabir and Tanvir Nizam.

According to the case statement, the accused allegedly carried out a series of unlawful transactions through beneficial owner (BO) accounts linked to their interests, along with fraudulent, speculative and gambling-type trading, to artificially inflate the prices of certain shares.

The allegations also state that ordinary investors were deceived and suffered substantial financial losses. The case puts the alleged loss at Tk 256.97 crore.

The case was filed on June 17 last year under provisions of the Money Laundering Prevention Act, Prevention of Corruption Act and Penal Code. The investigation report deadline has been postponed several times.