Allegations have been raised about the embezzlement of shares worth Tk 300 crore of a country’s leading tower company in a fraudulent way. A syndicate of the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies (RJSC) has allowed a shareholder of the company, which operates with a licence from Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) to make alleged changes in its ownership in violation of law.
As result, the national exchequer has also been deprived of Tk 17 crore as revenue.
Meanwhile, directors of the company — High Tech Consortium — have lodged a case with a higher court in this regard and the court accepted the case. They also complained with the BTRC demanding immediate actions against the said shareholder. According to a news report, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is now investigating the case. One of the complainants and Managing Director of the High Tech Consortium alleged that a ruling party’s powerful leader and also chairman of the company Khaled Hasan, now living in Washington, is the main criminal behind the syndicate.
This ruling party leader has allegedly made a resolution without holding any board meeting of the company forging the signatures of other directors. It is too mysterious that the RJSC has completed the entire process of transfer in a single day.
The report stated that the syndicate had also managed to sanction Tk 232.40 crore in favour of the company as loan from a private bank. However, the bank cancelled the loan approval after receiving objections.
Indeed, the RJSC had allowed the said shareholder of the company to make changes in ownership without checking the telecom regulator’s approval in violation of law.
It is to be mentioned that prior to awarding licence to a particular entity, the BTRC conducts a scrutiny to check whether the owners, directors or shareholders have any criminal records or not. It also went through the entity’s business history before granting the licence. As per Section 37(2)(Jha) of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Act, 2001, the BTRC’s approval is mandatory for changing ownership of a company.
The BTRC should strictly instruct all of its licensees to comply with due licensing conditions if they intended to make any changes in ownership or shareholding from the RJSC. At the same, the RJSC should also take the BTRC’s mandatory approval while changing ownership.
Corruption is so pervasive at all levels in the society that it threatens to become a way of life. Political leaders and corrupt intellectuals have been manipulating the political process allegedly to suit their own ends, taking the advantage of immunity.
