Three officials of the online travel agency Flight Expert have been arrested after its founder reportedly fled abroad with around Tk3 crore, leaving the company suddenly shut down and thousands of customers in uncertainty.
A customer named Bipul Sarkar filed the case at Motijheel police station on Saturday night. “Three people have already been arrested in this incident, and efforts are underway to arrest the rest,” said Mejbah Uddin, officer-in-charge of Motijheel police station on Sunday.
The arrestees were identified as Sakib Hossain, 32, the company’s head of Finance; Sayed Ahmed, 40, chief commercial officer; and AKM Sadat Hossain, 32, chief operating officer, the OC said.
Five people, including the three arrestees, were sued over the matter. The other two accused were Flight Expert founder MD Salman Bin Rashid Shah Sayem; his father MA Rashid Shah Samrat, added the police official.
Although the company’s app remained operational, its website was inactive, the customer service centre was closed, and its office in Dhaka's Motijheel area was also found to be closed. It was assumed that Salman went to Canada. He also reportedly had businesses and offices in Dubai.
OC Mejbah said Flight Expert rose to popularity in the Bangladeshi market by selling airline tickets at lower prices compared to competitors. Later, it expanded its services to include hotel bookings, tour packages, and other travel-related services.
In 2021, it was reported that controversial e-commerce platform Evaly had invested in Flight Expert.
It has also been learned that nearly Tk3 crore was withdrawn from the company's bank account before Salman Bin Rashid Shah Sayem allegedly fled abroad. Alongside him, officials serving as heads of various departments of the company were also believed to be involved.