Govt probe body formed to repay Jubok depositors
Friday, 29 January 2010
FE Report
The government has formed an inquiry commission headed by former Bangladesh Bank (BB) governor Dr Mohammed Farashuddin to reimburse money to depositors of Jubo Karmasangsthan Soceity (Jubok).
The commission will estimate how much money the clients 'deposited' with Jubok and how they can be repaid the amount, said a circular issued Tuesday.
It will also find out a procedure in appointing an administrator to the controversial non-government organisation and find out the wrongdoers in the organisation to begin criminal cases against them.
The members of the committee are representatives from finance, home and law ministries, a deputy governor, and a general manager of the central bank, who will act as member-secretary.
The committee will submit its report in 120 working days after it commences operation, the circular said.
The NGO was allegedly running a fraudulent bank-like organisation taking money from its depositors upon the lure of offering them deposit rates well above the ones on the market. Later, it reneged on its commitments.
It has also promised allotment of plots of lands to its clients but those promises too have largely remained elusive.
The chairman of Jubok, Mohammad Lokman Hossain, was arrested in May and at least 50 cases were filed against him with various police stations across the country for misappropriation of money worth around Tk 5.0 billion.
Jubok started its operation in 1995 at small scale by giving computer training to youths, and in 1997 it received a license from Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms to operate as limited company.
Within a decade it branched out about 20 sister organisations with investments in telecom, sea food, ceramic, tourism, real estate, information technology and nursery.
Bangladesh Bank in July 2007 banned the depositing and lending activities of the NGO and asked it to repay the 'depositors' by December the same year.
According to Jubok website, it owed Tk 323 million to its depositors at the end of 2007.
The government has formed an inquiry commission headed by former Bangladesh Bank (BB) governor Dr Mohammed Farashuddin to reimburse money to depositors of Jubo Karmasangsthan Soceity (Jubok).
The commission will estimate how much money the clients 'deposited' with Jubok and how they can be repaid the amount, said a circular issued Tuesday.
It will also find out a procedure in appointing an administrator to the controversial non-government organisation and find out the wrongdoers in the organisation to begin criminal cases against them.
The members of the committee are representatives from finance, home and law ministries, a deputy governor, and a general manager of the central bank, who will act as member-secretary.
The committee will submit its report in 120 working days after it commences operation, the circular said.
The NGO was allegedly running a fraudulent bank-like organisation taking money from its depositors upon the lure of offering them deposit rates well above the ones on the market. Later, it reneged on its commitments.
It has also promised allotment of plots of lands to its clients but those promises too have largely remained elusive.
The chairman of Jubok, Mohammad Lokman Hossain, was arrested in May and at least 50 cases were filed against him with various police stations across the country for misappropriation of money worth around Tk 5.0 billion.
Jubok started its operation in 1995 at small scale by giving computer training to youths, and in 1997 it received a license from Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms to operate as limited company.
Within a decade it branched out about 20 sister organisations with investments in telecom, sea food, ceramic, tourism, real estate, information technology and nursery.
Bangladesh Bank in July 2007 banned the depositing and lending activities of the NGO and asked it to repay the 'depositors' by December the same year.
According to Jubok website, it owed Tk 323 million to its depositors at the end of 2007.