Appointment of Jubok administrator gets nod

The Ministry of Law has given go-ahead to appointment of an administrator in the Jubo Karmasangsthan Society (Jubok) to pay back money to hundreds of thousands of cheated youths, officials said Thursday.
The green signal came seven months after the Ministry of Commerce (MoC) approached the law ministry for vetting appointment of an administrator in line with the recommendations made by the Jubok Commission.
"Now we are seeing a ray of hope that poor people may get money back as we get approval for appointment of an administrator," MoC joint secretary Abdul Mannan told the FE Thursday.
He said before taking any measure, the law ministry will seek approval from the cabinet committee.
"Next week we will seek the approval from the cabinet committee on economic affairs," he said.
Sources said the law ministry also approved a proposal that the administrator will act as receiver of the property of the Jubok, the cooperative, which allured youths in the name of paying high profit but did not pay back any money invested.
An official said the government at first tried to take steps on Jubok affairs through the Ministry of Social Welfare (MSW). Later, it found that it could not appoint an administrator under the societies registration act.  
Then the government asked the MoC to coordinate the Jubok affairs as the lead ministry and take steps to take control of its assets.
Earlier, a committee, led by MoC joint secretary Abdul Mannan had suggested to form a commission headed by a retired judge or a secretary-level official to punish the organisations like Jubok and others involved in cheating of people.
It also suggested that this commission should be a statutory body like Law Commission and Information Commission.
The committee was formed to identify ways to protect assets of the Jubok in the interest of investors. The body was also formed to examine legal aspects of appointing an administrator to protect the Jubok assets and pay back those to investors based on the recommendations made by a previously formed government-sponsored commission.
A senior MoC official said the government wants to repay the deposited money to the members of the Jubok, by selling its assets worth Tk 25 billion.
In May 2013, the Jubok Commission, headed by former bureaucrat Rafiqul Islam, submitted a report to the MoF suggesting appointment of the administrator for better management of its assets.  Before that, the government formed another commission headed by former governor of the Bangladesh Bank Mohammad Farashuddin.
The government suspended operations of the Jubok in 2006 on allegation of carrying out banking activities illegally by taking deposits from its members.
The cooperative made investment in the field of banks, housing, telecommunications, real estate development, tourism, health, agriculture, education, and broadcasting media.
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