5 Unilever Bangladesh officials face arrest warrants over ‘dealer fraud’

A Dhaka court orders their arrests over an alleged Tk 37.5 million fraud involving expired and damaged goods

A Dhaka court has issued arrest warrants against five officials of Unilever Bangladesh in connection with a case filed by a dealer alleging fraud and breach of trust.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Mehdi Hasan passed the order on Wednesday after a hearing on the complaint.

Those facing warrants are Syed Ziqrul Bin Zamir, head of the central south cluster of Unilever Bangladesh; M Shoaib Kamal, senior territory manager for Wari; Kawsar M Chowdhury, area manager of the central south region; Md Naharul Islam Molla, managing director of Consumer Care; and Zinnia Huq, director of the finance department.

The case was filed last year by Salahuddin Ferdous, the proprietor of Masud Enterprise, who was a contracted dealer of Unilever products.

According to the plaintiff’s lawyer Zahidul Islam Hiron, the case was lodged on Aug 7 last year, after which the court directed the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to probe the allegations.

CID investigator Tarikul Islam submitted his investigation report to the court on Jan 5.

Court documents and the police report show that Masud & Brothers entered into a dealership agreement with Unilever on Nov 3, 2009. A dispute later arose over the return of damaged and expired products.

The plaintiff claims that goods worth about Tk 37.5 million had become damaged or expired, but he neither received replacement products nor a refund, pushing him into heavy financial losses.

Responding to the case, Unilever Bangladesh’s director for Corporate Affairs, Partnerships and Communications Shamima Akhter, said in a written statement that the company learned of the matter through media reports and reiterated its respect for the country’s laws and judicial system.

“The matter is currently sub judice and Unilever Bangladesh is addressing it through due legal process,” the statement said, adding that the company firmly believes its employees did nothing amounting to a criminal offence and that any warrant is simply part of legal proceedings to be handled in court.