Police probing Dhamaka Shopping for 'Tk 1.16b money laundering'

The police's Criminal Investigation Department has brought charges against online marketplace Dhamaka Shopping of laundering money worth Tk 1.16 billion, reports bdnews24.com.
Assistant Superintendent of Police Al Amin started a case against Dhamaka Managing Director Jashimuddin Chisty and five others, and three other organisations on Thursday, Banani Police Station OC Noor-e-Azam Mia said.
The organisations are Microtrade Group, owned by Dhamaka, and its associates Invariant Telecom Ltd and Invariant Technology Ltd.
The other suspects are Jashimuddin's wife Sayeeda Roksana Khanam, his son and chairman of Invariant Telecom Tashfir Redwan Chisty, its MD Nazimuddin Asif, and directors Mashfique Redwan Chisty and Safwan Ahmed.
CID spokesman Azad Rahman said they found Tk 1.16 billion was laundered from a bank account of Dhamaka.
Humayun Kabir, special SP of CID's organised crime section, said they uncovered the scam while investigating Dhamaka's business operations.
bdnews24.com could not reach Dhamaka for comments. Its Chief Operating Officer Sirajul Islam Rana did not take calls.
The investigation into money laundering allegations against Dhamaka comes at a time when a number of e-commerce firms are facing allegations of fraud for their failure to deliver products after offering lucrative discounts.
Dhamaka raised huge funds by taking payments in advance from the customers after offering 40 to 50 percent discounts on cars, motorcycles and other products. Its offers included 35 percent discounts on Mercedes Benz cars.
It has defrauded thousands of customers out of millions of taka with lucrative offers, such as 'Double Taka Voucher' or 'Signature Cards', said SP Humayun.
The CID began investigating 14 e-commerce firms after the customers raised different types of allegations against the companies, particularly Evaly.
CID officials said they found irregularities in at least five organisations, including Dhamaka.