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E-commerce: New dimension of forgery

Published : Saturday, 25 September, 2021 at 12:00 AM  Count : 1190
Md Zillur Rahaman
In recent years, a new scam called e-commerce has started and there are many allegations of fraud against organizations like Evaly, Eorange, Dhamaka. Earlier, there were allegations of fraud and forgery against an organization called Destiny. Destiny's top men are now in jail on charges of fraud and embezzling Tk 4,000 crore from people. Millions of customers have gone bankrupt due to these scams. Owners and fraudsters have been prosecuted, sent to jail but no punishment has been confirmed. The accused got out of jail a few days later and started cheating again under a new name, a new strategy.

RAB has recently arrested the chairman of Ehsan Group Pirojpur-Bangladesh and one of his associates on charges of embezzling Tk 17,000 crore. The company was running its business by opening several madrasas including Ehsan Multipurpose Co-operative Society Ltd, Ehsan Real Estate and Builders Ltd. The chairman of the institution is the principal of a madrasa and at one time, he was the imam of the mosque. He later started an MLM business and in 2010 opened a company called Ehsan Real Estate. Later he opened dozens more companies and named them 'Ehsan Group Pirojpur-Bangladesh'. The company started a campaign in WazMahfil with a new strategy to attract customers. Millions of people who have invested in this organization are now sitting on the road.

Jubok is the first to trap huge amount of money from the customers tempting huge profits. Jubok started their fraud by renting a few shops at Aziz Co-operative Market in Shahbag of the capital. Gradually, the company launched a high interest rate deposit collection and lending program. The central bank launched an investigation in 2005 when a report was published in the media about the Jubok's fraudulent activities. Bangladesh Bank then stopped the activities of the Jubok on the charge of illegal banking. However, Jubokowes Tk. 2,600 crore to three lakh four thousand customers.

The issue of multilevel marketing (MLM) company fraud has come under discussion at various times over the past decade. In 2012, the Destiny scandal caused a stir across the country, but their business did not stop. There have been cases of fraud at different times. The law enforcement agencies arrested the leaders of these companies and sent them to jail. The trial of the filed case is ongoing but millions of people who invested in those companies did not get any money back.

Destiny and the Jubok are the two biggest examples of looting customers by trapping them in huge profits. The two companies have swindled around Tk. 7,100 crore by cheating ordinary customers. A trial is underway against 22 members of the Destiny Group on charges of embezzling and smuggling Tk. 4,119 crore. The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has found that the group's managers have snatched money from ordinary investors in the MLM business system by showing shares of various packages of Destiny Multipurpose Co-operative Society Ltd and Destiny Tree Plantation Ltd. They have also embezzled the money by transferring themselves as private banks in the name of investing in 32 non-profit organizations.

Similarly, the so-called multilevel marketing company (MLM) swindled Tk. 6,000 crore from 6 lakh investors in the hope of doubling their profits in 10 months. The ACC filed a case against UniPayToU officials in 2011 alleging embezzlement and smuggling of investors' money. Bangladesh Bank also found evidence of this information after investigating the institution. To get this money back, the investors are going from door to door of the concerned government offices and wearing shoes but there is no initiative from the government. Although there is a court order to return the money, but there is no initiative to implement it. Again, some customers have filed lawsuits against the MLM company, but it has been pending for years.

On the other hand, in the last few years, at least 15 companies have misappropriated thousands of crores of Taka in the name of e-commerce business. Apart from this, at least more than 50 companies are currently involved in active fraud. Those who have swindled hundreds of crores of Taka by trapping the customers. In addition to e-commerce, online MLM companies have recently been added to the list of fraudulent organizations.

Cases have been filed against the leaders of several other companies, including Evaly. Some of them have gone to jail after being arrested and some have fled abroad. But on the one hand, the deceived customers did not get the discounted product and on the other hand. According to the data, various MLM, online and e-commerce companies have already siphoned off at least Tk. 40,000 crore from the common man through various temptations. Some of the owners of the company are leaving the country after embezzling the money of the customer, smuggling huge amount of money abroad. Law enforcement has received allegations that it is investigating 14 e-commerce companies, including Evaly and Eorange.

According to the E-Commerce Association of Bangladesh (e-CAB), developed countries have fair trade commissions to monitor the e-commerce sector and monitor transparent competition. But there is no such commission in our country. We have competition commissions but its field is limited. There is also a lack of coordination among the concerned ministries. In addition, e-CAB has proposed a 'Risk Factor Management Committee' in the Digital Commerce Policy. But it has not been implemented so far. Having this committee will make it easier to keep an eye on e-commerce companies. Apart from that, e-CAB does not have any information about how much money an e-commerce company is transacting. If there was information, suspicious organizations could be identified in advance. On the other hand, Bangladesh Bank can tie the amount of money left to the e-commerce companies based on its assets.

In fact, selling products at half price, 100% cashback, taking money long before the delivery of the product, are nothing but fraud. Past experience has shown that at one stage such fraudulent organizations were shut down. The leaders of the organization were arrested but none of those who were harmed by those institutions got their money back.
The writer is a banker and freelancer





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