Housing chief hides after 'embezzling' Tk 5 crore

Affected clients also allege threat by swindler's accomplices

25 March 2009, 18:00 PM

Staff Correspondent, Sylhet

Thirty persons in a press conference yesterday demanded immediate arrest of the managing director of a housing company who went into hiding after swindling about Tk 5 crore that was taken from people in the name of giving plots at a suburb in the city. Accomplices of the accused, Abdul Batin Faisal, managing director of Shahjalal Valley Housing and Shahjalal Fair Tower, are now trying to harass the investors by implicating them in false cases, they said at a press conference held at Sylhet Press Club yesterday afternoon. In a written statement placed at the conference, by the investors alleged, “Swindling at least Tk 5 crore, the company's Managing Director Abdul Batin Faisal has now gone into hiding for months. “Faisal collected huge amount of money from several people including the non-resident Bangladeshis, who on good faith paid lakhs of taka on advance for plots in the proposed housing project at Khadimnagar suburb in the city. A few people were given directorships and shareholderships in exchange of bigger amounts,” the investors said in a written statement at the press conference. “Through showing colourful leaflets, brochure, memorandum, calendar etc Faisal allured people in the name of giving plots in his proposed housing project. “According to the terms and conditions mentioned on the contract papers, Faisal was supposed to hand over our plots while the shareholders were to get their shares by 2007. But the man started killing time showing different excuses. Faisal failed to meet all his commitments,” goes the complainants' statement. “As we failed to manage things from Abdul Batin Faisal and came to know that he was planning to leave the country secretly, we laid a siege to him at his house at the city's Shahjalal Upashahar on November 6 of 2008. “When police reached there, he in presence of a good number of newsmen and law enforcers admitted swindling Tk 5 crore in the name of Shahjalal Valley Housing and Shahjalal Fair Tower. “In the presence of a few local honourable persons, Faisal on that day made commitment to return Tk 1,62,43,000 back to 30 persons through his father-in-law Haji Bashir Ahmed. Haji also agreed to pay the amount by January 31 this year. “But ahead of the end of the deadline, Faisal shifted his stance and signed on fresh commitments for paying the said amount through his brother-in-law Moulana Emad Uddin. Accordingly, Emad gave 30 cheques on Dutch-Bangla Bank with dates from January 15 to February 8 this year but all the checks were dishonoured,” goes the allegation. “Meantime, Faisal's brothers Abdul Awal Helal and Abdur Rab Belal, also accomplices of Faisal, came to the country from the UK and assured us of giving our money back, but to no effect yet. They are also just buying time tactfully. “Recently, Faisal's wife Nasima Faisal and Zillur Rahman, a director of the company, filed several fake cases just to harass us as we had claimed our money back,” said the complainants. Md Abdul Mujib read out the statement at the press conference. ASM Anwarul Islam, Main Uddin Jalalabadi, Abdul Wahid Shahim, Azizur Rahman, Md Moinul Haque, Md Zainul Islam Munim, Dr Hamiduzzaman and Abul Kalam were present, among others.