Man used fake NIDs to buy 8 Dhaka flats
Joynal Abedin alias Idrish, a former salesman of a jewelry shop in Dhaka's Mirpur, managed to have six NID cards bearing his name with the help of an outsourced employee at the Election Commission's NID wing.
A person having multiple national identity (NID) cards can easily secure several tax identification numbers, open multiple bank accounts, take out many bank loans, and even obtain multiple passports.
Joynal amassed crores of taka in connivance with some staffers of the NID wing, land registry office, and banks, said investigators of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
All these crimes came to the fore in the first week of April after the Detective Branch of police had arrested four people, including Joynal, 42, and Pallab Das, 36, an outsourced employee of the NID wing, from different areas in the capital.
On Friday, the CID arrested seven more members of the forgery racket, including two employees of a bank and a land office.
The ring embezzled about Tk 30 crores taken out of banks as loans, said the investigators.
"Some unscrupulous employees of the NID wing, the land registry office, banks and financial institutions are involved with the racket that amassed crores of taka," CID chief Mohammad Ali Mia said yesterday.
Pallab Das was working at the NID wing in Rangpur. He would access the NID server to prepare NID cards using different numbers, but the cards would bear the same name and address. These fake cards were subsequently provided to Joynal in exchange for Tk 2-3 lakh for each. Joynal would use the cards to secure loans from different banks, according to investigators.
"Pallab either used a finger reversely or the toe to give impressions of fingerprints for preparing a new NID card," Jewel Chakma, additional superintendent of police at the Cyber Police Centre of CID, told The Daily Star.
A DB official, who led the drive to arrest Pallab, expressed concern over appointing outsourced employees to a sensitive office like the NID wing.
Speaking to The Daily Star yesterday, Rafiqul Haque, system manager at the NID wing, said they hired around 3,000 outsourced employees under the project titled Identification System for Enhancing Access to Services.
He claimed that Pallab, who joined work as an operator, did not have access to the NID server.
"If someone deceitfully uses the toe to give the impression for a fingerprint, how would you detect it?" Rafiqul asked.
LOAN SCAM
Milon Haque (not his real name) wanted to buy a flat in Dhaka's Bashundhara residential area. Joynal took him to a flat and asked Tk 2.10 crore for it.
As Milon had only Tk 90 lakh, Joynal assured him of arranging a home loan from a bank.
After securing a home loan, Milon gave Tk 2.10 crore to Joynal. He could not reach Joynal after paying the money as the latter switched off his phone.
The victim recently filed a complaint with the CID.
CID investigators said the gang led by Joynal would collect copies of deeds and other documents from prospective flat sellers saying that they would verify the documents with the land office.
Using the copies of the original documents, the racket members would prepare fake flat ownership documents with the help of some corrupt staffers at the land registry office. They would then trap the buyers into buying flats, the CID said.
Joynal invested the embezzled money in different businesses including Rumana Jewelers, Nir Estate Properties Limited, Sneha Enterprises, and ER International, the investigators found.
He also purchased a seven-storey building and three flats in Dhaka's Bashundhara residential area, and five more apartments in Mirpur and Ashkona.
According to CID, Joynal's accomplices Rakib Hossain, 33, and Abdus Sattar, 54, took loans from five banks and financial institutions by mortgaging a flat in Bashundhara residential area.
CID Additional SP Jewel said Joynal opened more than 50 accounts in various banks using the six NIDs.
Investigators have identified at least 25 members of the racket, including some officials of banks and financial institutions.
The CID has filed a case accusing 25 people, including the 11 arrestees, of laundering Tk 8.7 crore.
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