An investigation has revealed a large-scale embezzlement scheme involving high-ranking officials and travel agencies, leading to the misappropriation of approximately Tk10 crore (about $10 million) through fraudulent air ticket sales.
The scheme, which involved officials from Biman Bangladesh Airlines and several travel agencies, affected thousands of workers scheduled to fly to Malaysia.
Documents obtained by Dhaka Tribune confirmed the involvement of key figures in this scheme. The investigation identified a syndicate led by Biman's acting director of marketing Mohammad Salahuddin, and former Biman MD and CEO Shafiul Azim, who is currently serving as the Secretary of the Election Commission.
Other implicated officials include Biman Manager (Commercial) Golam Mostofa, Assistant Manager (Commercial) Farhana Akhter, and Deputy Manager (Operations Control) Tobibur Rahman.
Besides, 14 ticket agencies also played a crucial role in the scam.
Shafiul Azim and Salahuddin hail from the same region. Shafiul, during his tenure as Biman’s chief, violated the airline's policies by appointing Salahuddin as the director of marketing.
The scam resulted in approximately 31,000 workers missing their flights to Malaysia in May.
On May 31, the final departure day for Malaysia-bound flights, many workers were left stranded at Dhaka airport, unable to board their flights.
One tragic case involved a young worker named Sohail Tanveer, who, overwhelmed by despair after missing his flight, died by suicide on June 2.
Imran Hossain, Sohail’s maternal uncle, told Dhaka Tribune that he had missed the flight due to the scam.
Dhaka Tribune also obtained documents from the Prime Minister's Office which revealed a complaint by Ether Fariel Hamid, managing director of Fariel Tours and Travels, filed on May 26.
She alleged that her agency could not directly book tickets for Biman’s special flights to Malaysia as they had not appeared in the global distribution system (GDS).
Ether claimed this situation had allowed Biman officials to engage in corrupt practices, significantly inflating ticket prices beyond Tk1 lakh, urging the erstwhile prime minister to address the issue.
She further said tickets could be accessed through the GDS only by paying bribes ranging from Tk20,000 to Tk25,000 per ticket, with prices skyrocketing from Tk1,00,000 to Tk1,20,000.
Addressing the issue, Salahuddin told Dhaka Tribune: "It would have been easier to take appropriate action if we had been informed about who exactly received the bribes."
He also put the blame on Biman's former chief Shafiul Azim and the travel agency.
On the other hand, Shafiul Azim had pinned the blame on some travel agencies instead of taking action against unscrupulous Biman officials.
Regarding the issue, former prime minister Sheikh Hasina at the time said action would be taken against those responsible for the ticketing failures. In parliament on June 6, she promised an investigation and accountability for any involved parties.
However, current officials of the civil aviation ministry and Biman now accuse Hasina of covertly shielding the ticketing syndicate, as no concrete actions have been taken against the accused.
These officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, criticized the Hasina-led government for the promotion of Shafiul to secretary of the Election Commission without facing any punishment.
Further investigation revealed that former civil aviation minister Lt Col (Retd) Muhammad Faruk Khan, Shafiul Azim, and Salahuddin used their names and personal phone numbers to block approximately 1,600 tickets on five flights between April 15 and May 31, according to the documents.
The syndicate created an artificial ticket crisis through 14 preferred travel agencies, selling each ticket for between Tk1-Tk1.20 lakh. The proceeds from these inflated ticket sales were divided among the members of the syndicate.
However, this is not the first time Salahuddin has been accused of manipulating air ticket prices. He previously faced similar accusations for inflating ticket prices on various Middle East-bound routes and Malaysia in 2016, 2018, and 2022.
In 2022, the Dhaka Tribune uncovered a ticket black-marketing scheme, also involving Biman's inaugural Dhaka-Guangzhou flight, with Salahuddin and General Manager (Finance and Account) Mohammed Mizanur Rashid identified as key figures orchestrating the operation.
Salahuddin admitted to allowing the tickets to be sold through the black market but said he did not think it was a problem.
Ministry report
An extensive investigation by the civil aviation and tourism ministry unveiled a sprawling ticket black-market scandal involving high-ranking officials at Biman Bangladesh Airlines.
Central to the scandal are key figures such as Salahuddin, former minister Faruk Khan and Shafiul Azim, Golam Mostofa, Farhana Akhter, and Tobibur Rahman.
Dhaka Tribune was unable to reach Faruk for comment.
According to the investigation report, Salahuddin, using his official email, issued instructions to block tickets under the names of Shafiul and Faruk. These tickets were then secretly distributed among 14 select travel agencies, generating substantial financial kickbacks.
The agencies are Gemini Travels Ltd, Safa Travels and Tourism, East West Travels and Tours (Pvt), Kazi Air International (Pvt), Valencia Air Travels and Tours, Xpress Travel Holidays, Travel Zone, Seri Mechan Travel, Triplover Limited, Sunshine Travel Air International, Flyover Tours and Travels, Sadia Travels, Globe Travel Service (Bangladesh), and Travelchamp Limited.
According to the report, Biman operated seven flights from Dhaka to Kuala Lumpur between May 27 and May 30. Of these, five flights were classified as special while the booking information of the other two was removed by the syndicate. As many as 1,146 of the 2,150 available seats were manually overbooked. This allowed select travel agencies to sell these seats at exorbitant prices, well above the airline’s official rates.
For instance, for flight BG382 on May 27, an email was dispatched to Biman’s headquarters about the flight on May 19 at 11:30am. Fifteen seats were preemptively booked by the headquarters before the inventory was opened to travel agencies, violating established regulations. Ultimately, 142 seats were overbooked on this flight.
If these seats had been sold through Biman’s own sales counters rather than via travel agencies, the airline could have avoided a 7% agent commission. This change would have resulted in a savings of Tk634,491 in commission fees, with a further Tk266,805 saved on GDS costs.
For BG382 on May 30, flight inventory instructions were issued on May 23 at 5am, with public information released on May 24 at midnight. However, on that same day, Golam Mostofa blocked 206 tickets, Farhana Akhter blocked 329 tickets, and Tobibur Rahman blocked an additional 63 tickets. This coordinated action effectively monopolized the majority of the flight’s inventory.
Had these seats been sold through Biman’s counters, the airline would have saved Tk601,875 in commission fees and Tk221,305 in GDS costs. Notably, only two tickets were sold through Biman’s counters.
On May 27, an analysis of the PNR (passenger name record) for flight BG9086 revealed that a PNR (OWGDBR) had been created to block 90 seats under the names of Shafiul and Faruk. Despite this PNR being created by Golam Mostofa on June 26, no tickets were issued. Instead, 51 seats were allocated to Gemini Travels Ltd and 40 seats to Flyover Tours and Travels, with tickets sold for approximately Tk1,50,000.
Had the blocked seats been sold through Biman’s counters, the airline would have saved Tk28,74,316 in agent commissions and Tk15,93,247 in GDS costs, totalling Tk44,67,563.
Additionally, with 55 empty seats on these special flights, Biman faced a financial loss of Tk35,83,266.
The cumulative financial damage to Biman for these flights reaches Tk80,50,829 due to inflated commissions, GDS charges, and unoccupied seats.
What the accused say
Assistant Manager (Commercial) Farhana Akhter admitted to issues of overbooking, saying: "Airfare was determined on the orders of MD Shafiul Azim and Marketing Director Salahuddin."
An internal investigation corroborated Farhana Akter’s admission of irregularities, but Shafiul took no action against her.
GM (Revenue) Abu Sayed Md Monjur Emam’s investigation revealed that Farhana Akter, along with Tobibur Rahman and Golam Mostofa, were directly involved in ticket manipulation.
Deputy Manager (Operations Control) Tobibur Rahman, hired on a contract basis, denied involvement in the manipulation but the ministry’s investigation committee found evidence linking him to the misconduct.
Salahuddin had initially provided false information to the investigation committee, later denying any involvement. When presented with evidence of his misconduct, Salahuddin chose to remain silent.
The committee found that he had committed irregularities in ticket transactions by issuing instructions outside the rules and financially benefited by encouraging others to engage in similar misconduct. The committee has recommended swift action against him.
Biman MD Md Zahidul Islam Bhuiyan assured Dhaka Tribune that Biman would implement the committee’s recommendations.
