The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) has received Tk 680 million in loss claims from impacted customers more than a year after Moshihor Securities stole investors’ shares and money using phony software.

About 7,000 of the 44,000 impacted investors had filed their claims by October 30 after the exchange started compensation proceedings, according to Md. Shafiqur Rahman, Deputy General Manager of the DSE. In order to move their shares from Moshihor Securities to other market brokers, some 1,600 clients have also filed the necessary Central Depository Bangladesh Limited (CDBL) Form 16.

Moshihor Securities embezzled Tk 686 million from its Consolidated Customers Account (CCA) and siphoned off an additional Tk 923 million by selling clients’ shares. The brokerage used fake back‑office software to generate false investment records, which were given to clients, leaving them unaware of the fraud.

In early October this year, the DSE asked clients of the brokerage firm to submit complaints with documentary proof of their lost money and shares by the end of October. The exchange also encouraged BO (Beneficial Owner) account holders to apply to transfer their holdings to other brokerage firms.

Abul Kalam, Director and Spokesperson of the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC), said that the main stock market is collecting information on the assets of Moshihor Securities’ clients. He added that affected investors will be compensated from the Investor Protection Fund, but because the total misappropriated amount exceeds the fund’s available money, claims will be settled on a pro‑rata basis.

Under a rule effective from January this year, 25% of interest earned on funds held in CCAs must be deposited into the protection fund.

The financial fraud by Moshihor Securities was uncovered in August last year when the DSE detected a shortfall of Tk 686 million in the CCA. Further investigation revealed that the brokerage had misappropriated a total of Tk 1.61 billion in shares and cash. As a result, on August 19 last year, the DSE suspended the firm’s trading and DP (Depository Participant) license, and the BSEC imposed travel bans on the firm’s MD, directors, and CEO.

Some affected investors previously pressured the brokerage to sign repayment agreements, and the firm had promised to repurchase unlawfully sold shares. However, no client has received money or shares so far.

There have been at least five major cases of fund embezzlement by brokers before this incident. The BSEC spokesperson said that to prevent digital fraud, almost all brokerage firms are now required to use uniform, tamper‑proof back‑office software, which should help prevent such fraud in the future.

The Moshihor Securities embezzlement case was exposed under the new Securities Commission led by Khondoker Rashed Maqsood. At the regulator’s request, law‑enforcement authorities imposed travel bans on the firm’s CEO Ziaul Hossain Chisty, Managing Director Moshihor Rahman, and Director Sheikh Mogol Jan Rahman on August 30 last year.

The BSEC spokesperson confirmed that the travel bans on Moshihor Securities’ directors are still in effect. The Anti‑Corruption Commission (ACC) is also investigating Moshihor Securities under the Money Laundering Prevention Act.