5 behind elaborate ruse defrauding Dhaka Bank arrested

Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) arrested five people  for defrauding Dhaka Bank of a large amount of money using fake NIDs, trade licenses and TIN (tax identification number) certificates.

The arrested people are identified as Md Al Amin alias Jamil Sharif, 34, Kh M Hasan Imam alias Bidyut, 47, Md Abdullah Al Shahid, 38, Md Rezaul Islam, 38, and Md Shah Jahan, 39. A private car was also recovered from their possessions.

Based on secret information, a team of DB (Khilgaon) Zonal team under the DB (Motijheel Division) conducted raid in Khilgaon and Rampura on Tuesday night and made the arrests, said Additional Commissioner (DB) AKM Hafiz Akter at a press briefing at DMP Media Center on Wednesday.

It may be mentioned that two separate cases were filed with Khilgaon Police Station on December 7, and another one with Paltan Police Station on December 13 for embezzling money of Dhaka Bank Limited using fake NID, trade license and TIN certificate.  DB’s Motijheel Division started investigation of two cases.

Based on secret information, the detectives arrested one Biplob from the capital on February 28. He has since given a confessional statement before a Magistrate of Dhaka CMM court. Based on his statement, the DB arrested the five people from Khilgaon and Rampura areas on Tuesday night, said Additional Commissioner Hafiz Akhtar.

He said the fraudsters first went to the bank and consulted with bank officials about applying for a loan to buy a flat. Then they offered the bank officials to visit the flat. The gangsters somehow collected a photocopy of the flat owner’s NID card and flat documents from the real owner of the flat. Later when Bank officials went to visit the flat,  they found everything in order.

Hafiz Akhtar further said that the fraudsters then made a duplicate NID given by the flat owner through some dishonest employees of the Election Commission office and made fake NID card by simply changing the picture.

If the fake NID card were searched on the website or server of the Election Commission, the bank officials would have found it checked out.

Fraudsters even rented an office space for one or two years and then took the bank officials to visit their “office.”

When the bank officials visited the flat and found that everything was in order, they transferred the loan fund for the purchase of the flat through pay-order one or two days after the registration of the flat.

It was only after it came to the bank’s attention that instalments were not being paid against the loan, that the bank authorities decided to search the information server of the NID card given to them. On failing to find any information of the fake NID card there, they finally realized that they had been deceived.