An elaborate con indeed

Their target was businessmen and industrialists.

They sold old coins, takkar (a type of chameleon) and border pillars as valuable items.

They claimed that such old coins are used for research at US space agency Nasa which buys coins from different countries at inflated prices and sells them for millions of dollars.

In their trick, they themselves become the sellers, the buyers and the middlemen. And many would fall into this trap. When they strike a deal with a rich man, the victim, by greed, gives them a big chunk of money to make a big profit.

Such a fraudulent gang sold a coin for Tk 1.5 crore to Dr Abdullahel Bari, 70, chairman of Ananda Group, saying he could sell it to Nasa for Tk 1,200 crore.

The Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) arrested five members of the gang from Jessore, Jhenidah and Dhaka on Tuesday.

PBI chief Banaj Kumar Majumder came up with the information at a press briefing at its headquarters in Dhanmondi yesterday.

The arrestees are: Salam, 50, Akhteruzzaman, 61, Moniruzzaman Kamrul alias Jaman, 38, Abu Taher Joba, 35, and Shafiqul Islam Swapan, 49.

Banaj Kumar said the chairman of Ananda Group met Joba, a member of the fraudulent gang, a year ago.

Joba introduced Akhteruzzaman to Bari saying Akhteruzzaman travelled the world and that he runs his business from Singapore. He is also said to have travelled to Kuwait, Spain, Dubai, Malaysia and London for business.

"Actually, Akhteruzzaman is SSC pass and a guava farmer by profession," the PBI chief said.

At one point, Akhteruzzaman told Bari that he has a buyer with connections to Nasa and the American embassy. He lives abroad, but wants to buy old coins.

He also told Bari that there was a seller who lives in the bordering area in Jhenidah who brings such things from India.

Banaj Kumar said the impersonating Nasa man is actually a sari trader. And that the old coin seller works as a caretaker at a house in Jhenidah. Another member of the ring, identified as the personal secretary of the buyer, is in fact a clothes trader, he added.

They told Bari that the coin's price was Tk 1,200 crore. If Ananda Group pays 35 percent to the government, it would be a legal deal.

To make the deal successful, they met several times in Dhaka at posh restaurants and hotels.

"On December 9, 2020, Ananda Group Managing Director AHM Mahbub Alam Sarker went to Udaipur of Jhenidah to meet Salam. There, Jaman, impersonating as a Nasa employee, examined the coin and termed it genuine as the coin floated on water.

"It's a fake coin made of wood. It would definitely float … ." the PBI chief said.

Mahbub paid Tk 1.5 crore and Jaman gave a cheque of Tk 8.5 crore to Salam. Mahbub took the coin and came back to Dhaka.

Later, Jaman said he was in Sylhet and he would complete the deal after returning to Dhaka. After three days, Salam called Bari and said that the coin was not genuine and he had the real one with him.

Salam demanded Tk 10 crore for the "real" coin. Later, Jaman's mobile phone was found switched off.

Then the chairman of Ananda Group realised that the whole thing was a scam and that everyone involved was already known to each other and none of them were US citizens or Nasa employees.

On January 6, MD Mahbub filed a case with Jhenidah Police Station over the fraudulence.

Two old coins, cash and various equipment were recovered from the arrestees, the PBI said.

The PBI chief said they were trying to arrest other members of the ring.