B Mirror Report: The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) has imposed a total fine of Tk 20.07 crore on brokerage firm Aviva Equity Management Ltd and several of its officials for alleged violations of securities laws and regulations.

The commission fined Aviva Equity Tk 10 crore and its managing director and CEO Mohammad Shahidul Islam another Tk 10 crore.

In addition, seven company officials were fined Tk 1 lakh each, bringing the total penalty to Tk 20.07 crore.

The officials fined include company secretary Arif Abdut Tawab, accounts and finance manager Sheikh Mohammad Golam Sarwar, deputy manager Barun Chandra Samaddar, assistant manager Sharmin Ara, manager Md Abu Raihan, compliance officer Mohammad Mehedi Masud Bhuiyan and accounts in-charge Mohammad Saiful Chowdhury.

The BSEC reached the decision after reviewing a report prepared by an investigation committee formed by the commission.

The commission has also decided to send the matter to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of police for further investigation into whether the activities identified in the investigation involved money laundering.

The BSEC said the investigation findings warranted further scrutiny of possible money laundering and directed the relevant authorities to take necessary action.

Aviva Equity Management, a member of both the Dhaka and Chattogram stock exchanges, was previously known as Reliance Brokerage Services. Its parent company, Aviva Finance, was formerly known as Reliance Finance.

The names of both companies were changed in 2020.

Aviva Finance was previously chaired by S Alam Group chairman Mohammed Saiful Alam, who was removed from the company by Bangladesh Bank in February 2023.

The brokerage’s former parent company, Reliance Finance, was also headed by PK Halder as managing director in 2009. He was later accused in a major financial scam.