STOCK MARKET SCAM REPORT
Probe identifies mastermind and associates
Shahriar Noori
The three-member probe body on stock market scam found Salman Rahman and his associates as the masterminds behind the recent bourse debacle in the country, according to a reliable source.
An organised group took out or plundered at least Taka 3,000 crore from the small and medium investors through illegal manipulation, according to the findings of the report submitted to Finance Minister AMA Muhith.
The probe committee, formed on January 26 this year with Khondoker Ibrahim Khaled as its head, identified Salman Rahman, an Adviser to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Private Sector Development, and Mosaddeq Ali Falu, a former private secretary to BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia, had taken the leading role in the manipulation game.The probe committee also spotted a group including ruling party MP CM Kamal (alias Lotus Kamal), Commerce Minister Faruk Khan's brother Azam Khan of Summit Group, HBM Iqbal, and Jahurul Huq Sikder for their involvement in the share scam.
SEC officials
However, the unscrupulous activities remained hidden over the months due to corrupt practices of a section of officials of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
If the SEC officials were sincere with their responsibilities, the huge amount of money would not have been plundered from the country's share market so easily. Irregularities could have been prevented through regular checking of the depositing account of the share market, the investigation revealed.
For a long time the selling and buying activities in the bourse are being done through an automation system. So it is easy to monitor any manipulation and detect wrongdoers, the probe report observed.
The probe committee also detected a large number of individual accounts opened with misleading addresses and ambiguous photographs.
200 people
According to an official of the probe committee, a total of 200 people were profusely benefited out of the recent share scam. They include officials from both civil and military services, bankers, police, intelligence officials, lawyers and the media professionals. The probe committee, however, submitted recommendation to stop recurrence of such incidents. It observed that if perpetrators in the share market get off scot-free, like that of 1996-97 scam, investment prospect of the country would turn bleak.
SEC case in 1997
It may be mentioned that during the first tenure of Sheikh Hasina as Prime Minister, the SEC had filed a case on April 13, 1997 accusing 36 companies, including that of Salman Rahman, following a probe report. The probe committee headed by Professor Aminul Islam Chowdhury, former VC of Jahangirnagar University, had identified Salman Rahman as the main architect of the scam. He had manipulated the share market with the shares of his company Beximco Pharma, Shinepukur Ceramic and the securities company, the probe report had said.
According to latest report, Committee chairman Khondker Ibrahim Khaled handed over the report toFinance Minister AMA Muhith at the minister's Minto Road official residence around 9:30am on Thursday. Khaled, a career banker, dismissed the perception of political involvement in the Dec-Jan bubble trouble.
Drawn into main opposition BNP's claim that Tk 84,000 crore were channelled out of the market, the chief investigator said: "This is absolute trash."
"Tk 4000-5000 crore may have been laundered out of the country."
Khaled, before the formation of the probe body, had told the media that 10-15 politician-businessmen in the Awami League-BNP looted some Tk 150 billion from the stock market and that they would never reinvest the money.
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http://www.prothom-alo.com/detail/date/2011-04-08/news/145146
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