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Charges against Destiny okayed

51 accused of cheating Tk 42,00cr from investors

M Rahman
The controversial Destiny Group actually cheated more than Tk 4,200 crore from its investors, notTk 3,285 crore as assessed earlier, reveals a fresh investigation by the AntiCorruption Commission.
According to the new findings, the multi-level-marketing company misappropriated Tk 2,433 crore through its tree plantation project and Tk 1,861 crore through the cooperative society. Of the money, at least Tk 100 crore was siphoned off abroad. ACC Commissioner Mohammad Shahabuddin disclosed the findings to the media at his office in the capital yesterday, right after the commission had approved charge sheets in two cases filed in connection with the scam with Kalabagan police on July 31, 2012.
He said the fresh investigation had also found involvement of 29 more Destiny officials apart from the previously accused 22 others, including its Managing Director Mohammad Rafiqul Amin and Director Lt Gen (retd) M Harunur Rashid.
Of the 51 accused, 14 have been included in both cases making the total number of accused 65. As many as 19 people were accused in the tree plantation case while 46 in the cooperative society scam case.
According to the investigation, the officials had embezzled the money in the name of paying salaries, honorarium, commission, incentives and promotional cost and by transferring money to their bank accounts and those of some 20 other companies of the group.
The complainants of the cases - ACC Deputy Director Mozahar Ali Sarder and its Assistant Director Towfiqul Islam -brought allegations that between 2001 and the first quarter of 2012, the accused had laundered Tk 3,285 crore by cheating investors of Destiny Multipurpose Cooperative Society Ltd (DMCSL) and Destiny Tree Plantation Ltd (DTPL).
However, the latest investigation reveals that the Destiny officials misappropriated Tk 2,433 crore from its 17.5 lakh investors by selling 6.18 crore saplings through multi-level marketing in the DTPL project.
In reality, the group had planted only 32 lakh trees, according to the findings.
The company lured people into investing money in the plantation project saying if anyone invested Tk 8,000 under the Golden Package, the person would get Tk 20,000 after six years and for investing Tk 5,000 under the Silver Package one would getTk 30,000 in 12 years.
Meanwhile, the DMCSL project cheated 8.5 lakh investors of Tk 1,861 crore by promising high interest of up to 46 percent, says the investigation.
The probe also found that the group had siphoned off around Tk 100 crore to Hong Kong in the name of importing electrical and electronic goods, cosmetics, agro products and leasing aircraft for Destiny Air System Ltd. The fact is, none of the goods were imported while no aircraft was leased in.
The siphoning took place mostly in connivance with Hong Kong national Noel G Kerry, a business partner of DTPL MD Rafiqul Amin, says the fresh probe.