The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) has fined Abul Khayer Hiru as well as his relatives and associates Tk 134 crore for manipulating stocks of Fortune Shoes, Delta Life Insurance, NRB Commercial Bank, and Sonali Paper & Board.

This decision came at a commission meeting today.

The fine was levied on the basis of an investigation that was conducted by the commission under the leadership of Prof Shibli Rubayat Ul Islam, who resigned from his post citing health concerns just days after the Awami League government was ousted by a mass uprising in August.

Hiru has been fined several times over the past five years for his involvement in manipulating stocks.

The recent fine relates to three incidents of market manipulation

For manipulating stocks of Fortune Shoes in October 2021, the BSEC fined Hiru and his associates Abul Kalam Matber, DIT Cooperative Ltd, Kazi Sadia Hasan, Konika Afroze, and Sajed Madbar 77 crore.

Hiru and his associates Sajed Madbar, Mohammad Basher, Konika Afroze, Kazi Sadia Hasan, Kazi Fuad Hasan, DIT Cooperative Ltd, and Abul Kalam Matber were fined Tk 49.85 crore for breaking securities rules in trading shares of Delta Life Insurance.

The same bunch, led by Hiru, manipulated stocks of NRB Commercial Bank and Sonali Paper & Board Mills in 2021, which earned them a collective fine of Tk 7.48 crore.

The BSEC also took action against other offenders.

For breaching securities rules by investing outside its core business, the BSEC decided to fine Monarch Holdings, a company that has national cricketer Shakib Al Hasan as chairman, Tk 5 lakh.

It also ordered them to return the funds to its core business within the next 30 working days. If it fails to return the fund, the BSEC will fine the company Tk 10,000 per day after the stipulated time, the press release added.

The commission also decided to fine ANW Securities Tk 5 lakh for maintaining a deficit in its consolidated customers' account.

The managing director as well as each director, except for independent directors, of Sonali Paper & Board Mills were fined Tk 20 lakh each for their involvement in the manipulation of Paramount Insurance's stocks.

The stock market regulator decided to fine Mahfuza Akhter Tk 10 lakh and Dewan Salehin Mahmud Tk 40 lakh for breaking securities rules in trading units of Prime Finance First Mutual Fund.