Destiny bosses asked to pay Tk2,500cr for bail

The court said the amount collected from Destiny Group Managing Director Rafiqul Amin and Destiny Multipurpose Cooperative Society Ltd Chairman Mohammad Hossain will be used to pay back Destiny subscribers. The three-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha also disposed of two leave-to-appeal pleas filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) challenging the High Court’s bail for the two. The court asked Destiny to sell its 3.5 million trees that had been planted with the subscribers’ money under its tree plantation programme and deposit Tk2,800 crore to the government treasury. It said Rafiqul Amin and Mohammad Hossain must pay at least Tk2,500 crore to secure bail. The money will be distributed among the subscribers and the ACC has been asked to report to the court about the distribution. Upon the ACC report, the two will be released on bail. Destiny’s present CEO Shamshul Haque Bhuiyan will coordinate selling of the trees. The jail authorities will help in getting the paper works done and signed by the two accused in the process, the court said. On July 20, the HC had granted bail to the two Destiny officials on condition of surrendering their passports. The ACC challenged the decision with the Supreme Court. The ACC had filed the money laundering case involving Tk4,200 crore was filed against 22 Destiny Group officials in 2012. Tree plantation is one of Destiny’s biggest investment programmes with 34 gardens on 337.9 hectares of land in Bandarban.