The Anti-Corruption Commission has filed cases against top executives of two telecom firms, Vision Tel Ltd and Apple GlobalTel Communications Ltd, for laundering hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue from international call traffic.
The commission’s Director General, Akhtar Hossain, confirmed these cases on Sunday.
The case against Vision Tel Ltd reveals that between September 2012 and September 2013, the company handled 173.22 billion international call minutes, generating revenue worth $519,674,646.
However, instead of repatriating the amount to Bangladesh as required by law, not a single dollar was returned.
The commission investigation found that Vision Tel’s Managing Director, Russell Mirza, and Chairman, M Badiuzzaman, were responsible for the unauthorized transfer of these funds, totaling approximately Tk4,049 crore.
The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has also confirmed that the company has yet to settle its dues with the government.
In a separate case, Apple GlobalTel Communications Ltd. was found to have processed 301.22 billion international call minutes between September 2012 and June 2015. The company should have repatriated $642,366,665 to Bangladesh.
However, only $40,581,143 was returned, leaving a deficit of $601,785,521—equivalent to Tk4,633 crore.
Apple GlobalTel’s Managing Director, Abhiur Rahman Khan, and Chairman, Mohiuddin Majumder, were identified as the key figures behind the illicit transfer of these funds.
Both cases fall under the Money Laundering Prevention Act, 2012 (Sections 4(2) and 4(3)) and the Penal Code (Section 409), which deal with criminal breach of trust and financial misconduct.
The commission also claimed in its report that there was a massive failure in financial oversight and regulatory compliance in Bangladesh’s telecom sector.
