Actions against frauds are overdue
Wednesday, 2 January 2008
Arshad Hossain
Fraudulent activities are on the rise in the country. The favourite activity of those who engage in frauds appears to be setting up a cooperative organisation of sorts. The cooperative is only a signboard to deflect attention from their real purpose. Under the guise of a cooperative body, the operator of such an organisation of deceit takes subscription from its members and then resorts to full-fledged bank like activities such as telling the depositors that interests would be paid against their deposits.
Not only interests at the normal rate but well above the ones provided by the country's legitimate banks are offered. The same creates an attraction among common people who think that their money would grow faster if kept in these fake organisations. Thus, fairly soon, these bodies are able to mop up substantial deposits from ordinary people running into millions of taka.
They may even pay for a while the high interests to their customers to build up credibility. But one bad morning , the depositors may find that such a fraudulent organisation has winded up its operation and their moneys are gone forever. In other cases, the perpetrators of such frauds continue undetected in their crimes till information about them is leaked enough to expose them.
Other forms of frauds are also seen. Sometimes, fake manpower exporters take huge fees from unsuspecting people with the pledge of sending them abroad for doing jobs. The victims are allured with visions of good paying jobs abroad. But after they have deposited fees, as demanded, such a manpower firm may be found under lock and key suddenly with no knowledge of the whereabouts of its operators.
Cases were also reported about the collection of huge sums of money by individuals against their signboard organisations as security money to be deposited by job seekers before they would be given jobs within the country. But afterwards these individuals just vanished with the collected money.
Fraudulent activities, such as the above, are conducted on a large scale. The same affect, thus, not the lives of a few but many. In some cases, the deceived persons had sold their last parcels of ancestral lands to pay the impostors faking as manpower exporters or have kept money in cooperative societies out of a hope of making a windfall on their deposited amounts. When the deception becomes clear to them, there is nothing to be done. Going to the police, starting cases and other redress measures are too tedious and expensive. The deceived people with their life savings or resources gone in many cases are found having neither the zest nor the capacity to chase after the deceivers.
Surely, the best response to such activities can be no other than much sharpening the consciousness of people everywhere in the country. The mass media can be the most suitable medium to warn people extensively about these crimes. Newspapers, radio and television should be used to carry publicities to warn people that they should not deal with any organisation if it is not a banking organisation duly approved by the Bangladesh Bank. Similarly, they should be warned not to have any dealing with any manpower organisation that cannot show proper accreditation. They should be advised to know about the bonafides of a company before applying for a job in it with security deposits. The police, the central bank and the relevant ministries must step up their vigilance activities to detect and take appropriate actions against the frauds.
Fraudulent activities are on the rise in the country. The favourite activity of those who engage in frauds appears to be setting up a cooperative organisation of sorts. The cooperative is only a signboard to deflect attention from their real purpose. Under the guise of a cooperative body, the operator of such an organisation of deceit takes subscription from its members and then resorts to full-fledged bank like activities such as telling the depositors that interests would be paid against their deposits.
Not only interests at the normal rate but well above the ones provided by the country's legitimate banks are offered. The same creates an attraction among common people who think that their money would grow faster if kept in these fake organisations. Thus, fairly soon, these bodies are able to mop up substantial deposits from ordinary people running into millions of taka.
They may even pay for a while the high interests to their customers to build up credibility. But one bad morning , the depositors may find that such a fraudulent organisation has winded up its operation and their moneys are gone forever. In other cases, the perpetrators of such frauds continue undetected in their crimes till information about them is leaked enough to expose them.
Other forms of frauds are also seen. Sometimes, fake manpower exporters take huge fees from unsuspecting people with the pledge of sending them abroad for doing jobs. The victims are allured with visions of good paying jobs abroad. But after they have deposited fees, as demanded, such a manpower firm may be found under lock and key suddenly with no knowledge of the whereabouts of its operators.
Cases were also reported about the collection of huge sums of money by individuals against their signboard organisations as security money to be deposited by job seekers before they would be given jobs within the country. But afterwards these individuals just vanished with the collected money.
Fraudulent activities, such as the above, are conducted on a large scale. The same affect, thus, not the lives of a few but many. In some cases, the deceived persons had sold their last parcels of ancestral lands to pay the impostors faking as manpower exporters or have kept money in cooperative societies out of a hope of making a windfall on their deposited amounts. When the deception becomes clear to them, there is nothing to be done. Going to the police, starting cases and other redress measures are too tedious and expensive. The deceived people with their life savings or resources gone in many cases are found having neither the zest nor the capacity to chase after the deceivers.
Surely, the best response to such activities can be no other than much sharpening the consciousness of people everywhere in the country. The mass media can be the most suitable medium to warn people extensively about these crimes. Newspapers, radio and television should be used to carry publicities to warn people that they should not deal with any organisation if it is not a banking organisation duly approved by the Bangladesh Bank. Similarly, they should be warned not to have any dealing with any manpower organisation that cannot show proper accreditation. They should be advised to know about the bonafides of a company before applying for a job in it with security deposits. The police, the central bank and the relevant ministries must step up their vigilance activities to detect and take appropriate actions against the frauds.