B Mirror Report: The government has now taken a firm stance against one of the most high-profile fraud cases in the stock market involving Tamha Securities Limited. For a long time, the brokerage house’s owners and officials have been accused of embezzling nearly Tk 8.7 billion (87 crore) from more than two hundred investors. The affected investors have been going from office to office for over four years in an effort to recover their hard-earned money. In this context, the Ministry of Finance has directly intervened in the matter. Recently, the Financial Institutions Division of the ministry sent a letter to the stock market regulator BSEC, instructing it to ensure the swift return of the looted funds to investors.
At the center of this legal battle is a victim investor named Md Azizur Rahman. He alleged that Tamha Securities, without his consent, fraudulently sold a large volume of shares from his two BO accounts and misappropriated the proceeds. After submitting a written complaint to the Ministry of Finance, the ministry directed the BSEC to take action in accordance with regulations. Following this, the BSEC instructed the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) to resolve the matter quickly. Azizur Rahman said that although the DSE has refunded part of his money, about Tk 4.3 million (43 lakh) is still outstanding, which he is pursuing through higher administrative authorities.
The nature of Tamha Securities’ fraud was highly sophisticated and alarming. Allegations suggest that the company’s owners used two separate back-office software systems to deceive investors. Through one system, they provided investors with fake portfolio statements showing fabricated share holdings and cash balances, making clients believe their accounts were intact. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, another system was used to secretly sell clients’ shares and siphon off the money. A 2021 investigation found that the total shortfall of client funds amounted to around Tk 13.968 billion (139 crore 68 lakh).
After the massive scandal came to light in December 2021, the BSEC suspended Tamha Securities’ trading activities. Later, in 2022, the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) froze the bank accounts of the company’s Managing Director Md Harunur Rashid and his associates. The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has already filed cases against the MD and 15 others over the financial fraud. Market observers believe that such scams are a major cause of the loss of confidence in the stock market. Without swift and severe punishment, ordinary investors will continue to withdraw from the market.
At this delicate stage of the current fiscal year, returning the misappropriated funds to investors could positively impact market liquidity. If firms like Tamha Securities — registered with the DSE since 2005 — are not held accountable, strict regulatory oversight will become meaningless. The Ministry of Finance’s direct intervention has given investors a glimmer of hope. Now the real test is how quickly the BSEC and the DSE can recover the money and deliver it to the victims.
