A non-government organisation has allegedly disappeared after collecting about Tk4.5 crore from various clients in Hajiganj upazila of Chandpur.
Al-Arafat Environment Development Foundation (AEDF), with a registration no S 584/(85)06, began its operation in 2006 on the first floor of Talukdar building in Hajiganj bazar.
Tempting people with a scheme to double their deposit without interest as per the Islamic sharia, the foundation collected money from villagers, especially women and migrant workers. In the beginning they followed up with their promise and gave interest to some people to gain trust.
After few months, the Executive Director of the foundation Ibrahim Khalil opened up a factory to manufacture plastic pipes. He also urged others to buy shares of his Rupa Plastic factory.
However, Ibrahim left Bangladesh in March of this year for a so called visit to five countries. In his absence, the Managing Director of the foundation Azad Mazumdar continued the money collection.
Mizanur Rahman, a resident of Borokul union, said: “When I was working in Kuwait, my wife made a fixed deposit worth Tk1.18 lakh for six years with the foundation. Now they are supposed to give me back Tk2.36 lakh but they have been avoiding me. Today when I came to visit the office, I was told it no longer existed.”
Abu Taleb, a resident of the same union, said his wife opened a monthly deposit scheme for Tk200. “Now I don’t know where they are. Not only my wife, many people from our village had fallen victim.”
He further said someone named Krishna from the organisation collected money from more than 200 people in his village. “The amount will be about Tk1 crore. In the same way he collected money from Dherra village, Borokul, Bolakhal, Mokimabad, Enayetpur, Sudiya, Urpur, Rampur, Kochua, Rampur, Deshgaon and other places.”
Shahinur, an elderly of Borokul village said Krishna took Tk96,000 from her. “That was all I had as cash savings.”
The clients said Krish, Shahid and Motaleb from the foundation collected money from them even before the Eid-ul-Fitr. “A day after the Eid, a rumour spread that Krishna left his house. And Ibrahim was already gone. The other employees of the foundation are not traceable either. A rough estimation given by various clients has calculated the amount to be about Tk4.5 crore” they said.
Mohammad Mizanur Rahman, president of Hajiganj Upazila Bhangari Malik Samity, said Rupa Plastic bought bottles from him for Tk2 lakh. But he was given a cheque instead of cash as payment.
Owner of Talukdar building Anisur Rahman Talukdar said: “Ibrahim took Tk6 lakh from me. Moreover, I owe him Tk5.5 lakh as rent. Now I don’t know whether I would ever get the money back.”
When inquired about the registration of AEDF, upazila social welfare officials said the organisation was not registered with them. The cooperatives office also said they did not know about AEDF’s registration.
Sheikh Murshidul Islam, Hajiganj upazila nirbahi officer, said he never heard of such an organisation.
“May be they took approval from Dhaka. However, NGOs are not allowed to collect money and operate any deposit schemes. If we get complaint from any affected persons, we will look into it,” he said.
