A Dhaka court has sentenced Mohammad Rassel, the CEO of e-commerce platform Evaly, and his wife Shamima Nasreen, the company`s chairman, to three years in prison for criminal breach of trust and fraud.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Minhazur Rahman delivered the verdict on Sunday.
He also fined each of them Tk 5,000. They will have to serve an additional six months in jail if they fail to pay the fine, reports bdnews24.com.
Plaintiff`s lawyer Sakibul Islam said, “The accused are currently absconding. Alongside the sentencing, the court has issued an arrest warrant on them.”
Launched in 2018, Evaly gained prominence with its lucrative offers on home appliances, TVs, refrigerators, air-conditioners, washing machines, motorcycles, and other products.
Many customers capitalised on Evaly`s generous discounts -- some as high as 50 percent -- by reselling the products. To do so, some borrowed hundreds of thousands of taka while others sold land or gold ornaments to invest in Evaly products.
However, the company soon found itself in hot water when thousands of customers complained about not receiving their orders or refunds despite making payments in advance.
Evaly`s liabilities to customers and suppliers eventually ballooned to Tk 5.43 billion. Amid the controversy, disgruntled customers launched protests against Evaly and several other e-commerce companies in 2021, accusing them of fraud and embezzlement.
Rassel and Shamima were subsequently named in hundreds of cases, including the one they were sentenced in on Sunday, which was filed by a customer named Mujahid Hasan in January 2024.
The case documents reveal that Fahim had ordered a motorcycle on the platform valued at Tk 500,000 on Feb 20, 2021, and paid the full amount upfront.
However, the motorcycle was not delivered within the advertised 45 working days, prompting him to visit Evaly`s office in Dhanmondi.
Evaly subsequently issued Fahim a cheque for Tk 500,000, as they were unable to deliver the motorcycle.
However, on Aug 23 of the same year, Evaly informed him that their bank account lacked the necessary funds to honour the cheque and requested him not to cash it, promising a future refund instead.
Consequently, Fahim decided to seek legal recourse and filed a case against them.
The Rapid Action Battalion arrested Rassel and Shamima on Sept 16, 2021, based on a complaint from a customer facing similar issues.
Shamima was granted bail on Apr 6, 2022, after spending eight months behind bars. Rassel was released on bail in December 2023.
On Jun 2, 2024, a Chattogram court sentenced Rassel and Shamima to one year in prison over cheque fraud. On Jan 29 this year, they were handed a two-year jail term in another case.
