Synonyms of his name in English is dependence, Md. Shamsul Islam Varosha Chairman of the Fareast Finance & Investment Limited prove the meaning wrong instead he drowned the company for his greedy approach to occupy its fund illegally.
The company is now in deep crisis as it currently running short of its capital worth Tk 11.73 crore by April, 2021. It recorded around Tk 5.0 crore operating losses for the year 2020 following the previous losses worth Tk 9.3 crore in 2017 and Tk 7.2 crore in 2019 respectively. The company has also over Tk 32 crore long an short term loan taken from different institutions.
Mr Md. Varosha recently launched a legal fight with the government to ensure his supremacy into the board though the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) has reconstituted the board to bring the company into the light.

Sources said Mr. Varosha, son of a legendary tobacco businessmen and former lawmaker late Rahim Uddin Varosha misappropriated its fund by allocating loan to his ghost companies. He also embezzled a huge amount of fund by applying manifold misdeed into the leasing company .
According to sources, BSEC reconstituted the board of the financial institution in March this year and appointed six independent directors. Recently, the decision of the commission was challenged in the High Court. Shamsul Islam Varsa. After the hearing of the writ, the High Court Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Md. Joint bench of Mostafizur Rahman. Besides, the court has issued a rule as to why the order of the commission on reorganization of the board should not be declared illegal.
Following the court’s order, Shamsul Islam Varsa, the company’s former chairman, recently returned to the Far East Finance office. He has also been accused of removing important documents from the company. Moreover, the commission is not saying that such activities of the former chairman of the organization are acceptable until a legal decision is taken as it is a matter under consideration. Therefore, BSEC has written to the Governor of Bangladesh Bank to keep the office of the company closed during the lockdown.
The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) has requested the Governor of Bangladesh Bank to keep the offices of Far East Finance and Investment Limited, a non-bank listed financial institution, closed during the lockdown. The BSEC has recently sent a letter to the Governor in this regard.
In 2019, Fareast Finance & Investment Limited [FFIL] recorded Net Loss of Taka 718.00 million with negative earnings of Taka 4.38 per share. In 2019, total portfolio of the Company stood at Taka 9,198.44 million registering a decrease of Taka 941.12 million [due to recovery of loans, advances & leases and failure to make new investment at satisfactory level], while it was Taka 10,139.56 million at the end of 2018. Taka 826.20 million extended to SME out of total Taka 9,198.44 million.
The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) will appoint a special auditor for Fareast Finance and Investments to investigate the company’s financial situation.
The stock market regulator took this decision during a commission meeting yesterday. For all latest news, follow The Daily Star’s Google News channel. Fareast Finance, a listed non-bank financial institution, has failed to provide any dividends to investors since 2017 due to considerable losses.
The company’s reserve stands at Tk 117 crore in the negative while its paid-up capital is Tk 164 crore, data from the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) shows. After its trading debut in 2013, Fareast Finance has so far provided only 15 per cent cash dividends and 2.5 per cent stock dividends.
But as the company’s history of poor performance since then has ultimately impacted its investors, the stock market regulator decided to initiate a special audit, according to a top BSEC official. It was also decided during the commission meeting that foreign investors would be allowed to sponsor any mutual fund.
As on December 31, 2011 company’s authorized and paid up capital is Tk.2,000.00 million and Tk.1,046.02 million respectively. As on December 31, 2011 shareholders’ equity is Tk.1,732.84 million. Besides, company’s portfolio exposure to the market was Tk.5,136.95 million as on December 31, 2011.
Fareast Finance & Investment Limited (FFIL) was incorporated in Bangladesh as a public limited company with limited liability on June 21, 2001 under The Companies Act, 1994. The company commenced its business in Bangladesh as per Certificate of Commencement on the same date. Subsequently the company took license from Bangladesh Bank as a Non-Banking Financial Institution under The Financial Institutions Act, 1993 to operate as a leasing and financing company as provided under the relevant Law.