CID seizes Tk 5bn in assets of manpower exporter Swapan over Malaysia labour racket

He is accused of collecting Tk 80 billion from overseas jobseekers through a labour recruitment syndicate

The Criminal Investigation Department has confiscated assets worth Tk 5 billion from Ruhul Amin Swapon, a controversial manpower exporter and former secretary general of the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA).

In a media statement on Wednesday, the CID described Swapan as the “chief” of a syndicate that controlled labour recruitment for Malaysia.

Swapan is the owner of Catharsis International, a manpower export company that has been operating since 1997.

During the tenure of the former Awami League government, he was known as a close associate of former finance minister AHM Mustafa Kamal.

Allegations suggest he exploited this connection to collect several hundred thousand taka from each worker bound for Malaysia. Recruitment costs rose several times due to the syndicate’s activities.

The CID said, “Ruhul Amin Swapan, head of the manpower export syndicate for Malaysia, along with related individuals and companies, has had immovable properties worth around Tk 500 crore seized.”

Investigators allege the syndicate extracted about Tk 80 billion from workers, then laundered the proceeds into land and property holdings.

The funds were used to build extensive real estate portfolios -- an offence falling under money laundering laws, they said.

The seizures were made following a court order issued in response to a plea from CID’s Financial Crime Unit.

Among the confiscated properties are 1.56 hectares of land in Dhaka’s Bashundhara Residential Area, Banani, and Uttara, listed under Catharsis International. The official deed value of the land is Tk 155.5 million.

The CID says that, including infrastructure and other immovable holdings, the total seized assets are worth around Tk 5 billion.