The Criminal Investigation Department has filed 17 cases against 28 persons including Salman F Rahman, vice-chairman of Beximco Group, over laundering about Tk 1,000 crore ($83 million) abroad under the guise of export trade.

The cases were filed by CID's financial crime unit with Motijheel Police Station, according to a media release issued by the CID yesterday.

A primary investigation found that 17 companies owned by Beximco and linked to Salman and his brother Ahmed Sohail Fasihur Rahman, the vice-chairman and chairman of Beximco Group respectively, exported goods, but the proceeds amounting to approximately $83 million (about Tk 1,000 crore) were not repatriated to Bangladesh after the stipulated time.

The goods were exported between 2021 and 2024 against 93 letters of credit (LCs) or sales contracts obtained from Janata Bank's local office branch in Dilkusha.

The goods were mostly shipped to the UAE's RR Global Trading (FZE) Sharjah and Saudi Arabian addresses.

RR Global Trading is jointly owned by Ahmed Shayan Fazlur Rahman, son of Salman, and Ahmed Shahryar Rahman, son of ASF Rahman, the release added.

Additionally, goods were exported to countries like Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, Turkey and Sri Lanka.

The accused committed the offences which are punishable under the Money Laundering Prevention Act 2012, the CID said.

Besides, separate investigations are ongoing at the financial crime unit concerning allegations that Salman, who was the private industry and investment affairs adviser to former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, and Beximco Group's associated companies have taken loans amounting to about Tk 33,470 crore and transferred the funds abroad.

Last month, the Anti-Corruption Commission decided to launch investigations into graft allegations against Salman.

Salman, who is said to be a close collaborator of Hasina, is accused of stock market fraud and embezzlement of thousands of crores of taka from shareholders through deception, according to a complaint.

He misused his influence to obtain around Tk 36,000 crore in loans from public and private banks, and embezzled and laundered thousands of crores of taka abroad, the complaint said.

On the basis of that complaint, the ACC started an investigation into graft allegations against Salman.

On September 10, Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) formed a committee to look into allegations of market manipulation by Salman.

The probe will also cover the family members of Salman who was an influential business tycoon during the past Awami League regime.

The BSEC order in this regard referred to a news report that mentioned Salman as a loan defaulter in the 1980s. His name also came up in the 1996 share market scam.

After the AL came to power in 2009, Salman reportedly had his name cleared from the defaulter list using"special privileges".

An earlier market investigation committee, led by former Bangladesh Bank deputy governor Khondkar Ibrahim Khaled, mentioned Salman's involvement in exerting control even over the stock regulator, the BSEC said.

According to media reports, Salman's past in GMG Airlines is a "textbook case of manipulation", the committee said.

GMG's financial condition had been deteriorating since it started operations in 1998. The company accumulated a loss of Tk 42 crore until 2006.

In 2007, it made a trivial annual profit of Tk 1 crore.

Then it got a fillip, with Beximco buying half of the equity stake in GMG in 2009, and things started looking up since. The profit of GMG jumped to Tk 79 crore in 2010 without any discernible reason.

The airline offered shares worth Tk 300 crore in a private sale at a 400 percent premium with the promise that it would soon be traded on the stock market. New planes would be bought and GMG would fly to new skies.

Salman is also accused of ruining the debenture market by not repaying funds within the stipulated time. The bond market was also under the influence of the businessman.