PK Halder, accomplices slapped with Tk 1.7cr fine for market manipulation

The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) on Wednesday fined rogue businessman PK Halder and his accomplices a total of Tk 1.7 crore for manipulating the share prices of Information Services Network.

Halder, who is believed to have laundered about Tk 10,000 crore out of Bangladesh, was fined Tk 25 lakh, his company Hal Industry Tk 85 lakh and his accomplice Swapan Kumar Mistri’s Sandip Corporation Tk 60 lakh.

But retail investor Amanat Ullah was fined the highest of Tk 1 crore for manipulating the prices of the 18-year-old internet service provider.  Sitara Begum was fined Tk 5 lakh for the same offence.

At the commission meeting on Wednesday, a total of 16 individuals and institutions were fined Tk 4.68 crore for manipulating the share prices of Northern Jute Manufacturing Company and Information Services Network.

No person can directly or indirectly affect a series of transactions in any security creating the appearance of the price rising to induce its purchase by others or depress its price to induce its sale by others, says According to Section 17 (e) (v) of Securities And Exchange Ordinance, 1969.

The commission fined Parimal Chandra Pal Tk 20 lakh, his associates Ripon Sheikh Tk 20 lakh, Mollik Abu Bakar Tk 10 lakh, Tofazzol Hossain Tk 40 lakh, Bidhan Mistri Tk 5 lakh and Amal Krishna Das Tk 7 lakh for manipulating the share price of Northern Jute Manufacturing.

It also fined Saleh Ahmed Siddique Tk 7 lakh, Samir Ranjan Pal Tk 20 lakh and his associates Shiuli Pal Tk 50 lakh and Chitto Harman Datt Tk 12 lakh.

The BSEC also fined Bali Securities, a Dhaka Stock Exchange-based brokerage house, Tk 2 lakh for providing loan facilities to the cash accounts of its directors and a wife of a director without a margin contract or the necessary funds in the consolidated customers' account, which violates securities rules.