Alleged software fraud in allowance payments
Court freezes Tk 7.86bn Nagad shares
- Court orders freeze of shares worth Tk 7.86 billion
- Software fraud allegedly diverted government allowance funds
- ACC finds preliminary evidence of fund diversion and layering
A court has ordered the freezing of shares worth Tk 7.86 billion held in the names of former Third Wave Technologies Limited (renamed Nagad Limited) Managing Director Tanvir Ahmed Mishuk and other related individuals and entities. The order comes amid an investigation into allegations that software fraud was used to embezzle and launder hundreds of crores of taka from government allowance payments.
September 14, Monday, Metropolitan Senior Special Judge of Dhaka Md Shahjahan Kabir passed the order. Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Assistant Director Mohammad Tanzir Ahmed confirmed the matter.
Earlier, ACC Assistant Director and investigating officer Mohammad Shahjahan Miraj filed an application seeking an order to freeze 168,434,127 shares of Third Wave Technologies Limited. The shares have a face value of Tk 7,860,003,284.
According to the ACC investigation, more than Tk 326.5076 billion in government allowances from various ministries were distributed through Nagad between April 1, 2021 and December 2024. Under the prescribed system, the funds were supposed to move through Sonali Bank and reach beneficiaries’ wallets as Nagad e-money.
The investigation alleges that when beneficiaries did not withdraw the allowances within one to two weeks, due to death, forgotten passwords or other reasons, the e-money was allegedly removed from their wallets through software manipulation.
According to preliminary findings, the funds were first transferred to 24,159 fake agent wallets and later to 648 fake DSO wallets. The money was then allegedly withdrawn through the bank accounts of 34 unauthorised distributors.
The ACC has found preliminary evidence that Tk 17,063,854,229 was allegedly embezzled from the Trustcom settlement account in the name of refunds. Of this amount, nearly Tk 13,277,900,000 was allegedly embezzled through only eight unauthorised distributors.
The investigation further found that, between January 8, 2016 and February 11, 2024, the allegedly embezzled funds were layered through various bank accounts and used to purchase more than 168.4 million shares in Third Wave Technologies Limited.
//DBTech/DAD/SME/FOEB//
