The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has decided to file six separate cases against 11 individuals, including owners and officials of six recruiting agencies, for allegedly embezzling and laundering Tk 525.22 crore by charging excessive fees from jobseekers bound for Malaysia.
The decision was made at the ACC headquarters on Thursday, according to its Director General Md Akhter Hossain.
According to ACC findings, the accused collected several times the government-approved amount from 3,331 workers seeking employment in Malaysia. Each worker was supposed to pay Tk 78,990, but the agencies allegedly charged up to five times that amount.
The accused are Ruhul Amin, owner of M/S Amin Tours and Travels; Hasan Ahmed Chowdhury, chairman of Merit Trade International Ltd, and its managing director Shahana Ferdous; Shamim Ahmed Chowdhury Noman, owner of Sadia International; Md Iqbal Hossain, chairman of Imperial Resource Ltd, and its managing director Md Badruddoza Chowdhury; Md Moniruzzaman, chairman of RRC Human Resource Service Ltd, and its managing director Md Alamgir Kabir; and former managing director of Thanex International Ltd Abdullah Shahed along with directors Md Zainal Abedin and Shamsher Ahmed.
The investigation revealed that the accused colluded to exploit Malaysia-bound workers through abuse of power, violating the registration conditions of the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) and Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA).
They also allegedly collected extra fees under the pretext of passport processing, medical tests, and other charges, and siphoned the money abroad through illegal transactions.
The cases will be filed under sections 120(B)/161/162/163/164/165(A)/420/409/109 of the Penal Code, sections 4(2) and 4(3) of the Money Laundering Prevention Act, 2012, and section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947.
