Various fraud syndicates are very active across the country and they’re ruining people using various treacherous techniques.

For instance, Abdul Ali of Fakirhat Upazila under Bagherhat district formed a fraud syndicate. The syndicate opened a business organization and grabbed money from business owners from seven districts including Narayanganj and Bagherhat in the name of selling coal and various other products.

Law enforcement agencies have identified at least 151 fraudsters across the country in the last one year. However, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the police says that the same person is involved in cheating again and again. After the arrest, the person was jailed for a few days and got out on bail and become involved in fraud again. Among the 64 districts, Natore, Magura and Faridpur have been stricken with the highest number of fraudsters. Their fraud activities are going on with various techniques and technologies.

If the case is filed somewhere, the cheated people are threatened by the fraud groups. Thus thousands of people are destitute. Even if they are arrested, the criminals come out through the loopholes of the law. Allegedly, the scammers are sheltered by political party leaders, APS of ministers and MPs, due to which law enforcement forces are helpless in many cases. Supreme Court lawyer SM Ashraful Islam said a timely special law is needed in the cases of fraud. The law will start the punishment after completing the trial quickly. Then criminals will be scared away from cheating. However, efforts must be made to update the existing legislation.

Fraud activities in Madhukhali of Faridpur: CID identified 62 fraudsters in Paschimpara village of Dumain Union under Madhukhali upazila of Faridpur district. About that village, the residents of the surrounding area commented that earlier there were brick houses; however at present there are concrete buildings. Those people, who couldn’t get rice for three meals, go to the market with 3-4 thousand Taka in their pockets. There is no such change in income from employment, business or any other initiative. By deceiving people, they have grabbed huge money within a short span of time.

According to the district police, the fraud gang has 77 members in Paschimpara village of Dumain. This number is 95 in the nearby Dumain village. The members of the gang have also spread to the surrounding villages and areas. According to the investigation report of SI Md Adul Kabir of CID, two cases have been found in Madhukhali Police Station against Shahrup Sheikh of Pashchimpara in Dumain. Besides, there are multiple cases against Moynal Sheikh, Ratan Sheikh, Obaidul Kazi, Sagar Kazi, Tapan Sheikh, Mehedi Hasan, Mithun Sheikh, Milan Sheikh, Ashraful Sheikh, Ilyas Sheikh, Ripon Sheikh and Abdul Quader Sheikh. The cases are all about digital fraud. These cases took were filed from 2018 to March of last year. In 2021, while investigating a case in Shahjahanpur police station of the capital, the CID found out the full names and addresses of 62 fraudsters of Paschimpara village in Madhukhali. On March 28 last year, a charge sheet was submitted against them in the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court of Dhaka. SI Emdadul Kabir said 62 people from Paschimpara of Dumain in Madhukhali are involved in digital fraud. Eight of them have given a confessional statement under section 164 in the court. In their deposition, information is available that a total of 64 people are involved in such heinous activities.

Fraud activities in Natore's Lalpur and Rajshahi's Bagha: On February 26, a case was registered in Hazaribagh police station of the capital. After that, the Cyber and Special Crime-South Division of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DB) launched an investigation in Natore. On March 1, four persons named Sohag, Ripon Islam, Sohail Rana and Liton Ali were arrested. According to DB, they used to do the job of mobile phone hardware and software fixing very well. Using the skill of speaking in a female voice, they spread the trap of cheating. These fraudsters used to target expatriates of Middle East using the online social media platform IMO. 80% of the people of Bilmaria of Lalpur Upazila of Natore and Durduriya of Bagha Upazila of Rajshahi are involved in fraud.

Natore District Superintendent of Police (SP) Saifur Rahman said, “Bilmaria fraudsters are mainly hacker groups. Their home is in Lalpur but they cheat people of different parts of the country. However, if a case is filed in their name anywhere in the country, they can be arrested on the requisition of the case. There is no obstacle.”

What is there in the analysis of fingerprint data: The forensic department of CID collects the fingerprint samples of the arrested accused from the police stations or court throughout the country. According to the forensic lab, till August 14 last year, 243,000 fingerprints have been stored in their data bank. Among these, 60 percent of the people whose fingerprints have been collected in Dhaka are repeatedly involved in a crime. That is, whoever is arrested for fraud, theft, drugs or robbery and goes to jail, gets out on bail and commits a crime again. Until 2014, fingerprint data was stored in a traditional (manual) manner. Later storage of fingerprints of the accused started through Automatic Finger Identification System software. More than 10,000 fingerprints of accused persons have been matched multiple times with those in the data bank. This coincidence means they are being arrested again and again.

What's in the law: Usually cases under Section 420 of the Penal Code are more common in cases of fraud. The maximum punishment in this section is seven years. However, there is a provision for fine.

Section 415 of the Penal Code states: If a person exerts influence over someone for dishonest purpose, extorts anything from him, even if it is subject to the consent of that person, it will be fraud. Apart from this, the Prevention of Money Laundering Act also goes for the prosecution of cases of fraud. Because among the 27 related crimes of this Act, fraud is included. The Act mentions severe punishment including confiscation of assets. However, despite thousands of frauds occurring across the country, the number of cases under the Money Laundering Act is very low. The CID is the only police agency empowered to investigate cases under the Money Laundering Act. Sources of the organization say that more than a hundred cases have been registered under the Money Laundering Act in cases of money embezzlement through fraud.

Another village of fraudsters: The police received information about 135 fraudsters in two villages named Goaldah and Maheshpur under Sreepur upazila of Magura. They have spread the net of fraud across the country by developing in villages. According to the police, from June 1 to 8, 2021, hundreds of bkash customers in EPZ and Halishahar area of Chittagong city had become victims of fraud. After one complaint after another were filed in police stations, the two villages of Magura were found after investigation. The investigators went there and saw that there are some huts like macha in the ponds or jute fields in Goaldah and Maheshpur villages. Most of the youth hang out in that place aged from 15 to 30 years. They sit there and call people one by one posing as bkash or rocket officials. Then the pin code is taken from the customers. There are seven-eight such circles in two villages. Sreepur Upazila Chairman Mia Mahmudul Gani told this reporter that fraud was once widespread due to online, now reduced somewhat due to the administration's activities. Now those two villages are heavily guarded by the police. Former Inspector General of Police (IGP) AKM Shahidul Haque said, “As the number of people increases, social problems will also increase. He believes that one of the reasons for the increase in crimes like fraud is due to the limitation of employment.”

@The report was published in Bengali on print and online versions of The Bangladesh Pratidin on March 18 and rewritten in English by Lutful Hoque