Rangs chief Rouf, HRC Chairman Sayeed cleared of 1996 share fraud

A special court has acquitted Rangs Group boss MA Rouf Chowdhury and HRC Group Chairman Sayeed Hossain Chowdhury of charges of manipulating the share market two decades ago.

Judge Akbar Ali of the special tribunal, which is set up in Dhaka's Motijheel to dispose of share market-related cases, delivered the verdict on Sunday, Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) lawyer Masud Rana Khan told bdnews24.com.

Besides Rouf and Sayeed, the then chairman and director of Premium Securities respectively, the brokerage house's director Anu Jaigirdar and Managing Director Moshiur Rahman were also accused in the case.

Masud Rana said the trial of Anu and Moshiur was halted following a High Court order.

At the hearings, which ended on Apr 10, Masud Rana argued the accused persons created an artificial demand for share in collusion with each other, which is a punishable crime.

According to the case dossiers, the accused people exchanged shares of Mita Textile, Prime Textile, Bata Shoes, and Beximco Pharma from July to November in 1996 in a fraudulent scheme.

The BSEC committee to investigate the allegations said in its report, which was submitted on Mar 27 in 1997, that the activities of the accused caused damage to general investors.

It said the accused persons violated sub-section E (2) of section 17 of the Securities and Exchange Ordinance of 1969.

It recommended punishing the suspects under section 24 of the ordinance.