Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has been granted over two additional months to submit its investigation report against cricketer and former Magura-1 MP Shakib Al Hasan, his mother Shirin Akter and 13 others over allegations of stock market manipulation, fraud and money laundering.
The report was originally due Sunday, but ACC prosecutors told the Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge’s Court that they were unable to submit it on time. Judge Sabbir Foyez has now set 26 November as the new deadline, ACC assistant director Aminul Islam said.
The other accused include Cooperative Department Deputy Registrar Abul Khair, his wife Kazi Sadia Hasan, Abul Kalam Madbar, Konika Afroze, Mohammad Bashar, Sajeed Madbar, Aleya Begum, Kazi Fuad Hasan, Kazi Farid Hasan, Javed A Matin, Zahed Kamal, Humayun Kabir and Tanvir Nizam.
Shakib, Bangladesh’s most successful cricketer, was elected MP for Magura in 2024 under the Awami League ticket. He was abroad when the government fell in August and has not returned to Bangladesh since. In August, an unrelated murder case was also filed against him at Adabor Police Station.
Later, the ACC opened a probe into multiple allegations against Shakib, including stock market scams, involvement with illegal gambling businesses, gold smuggling, swindling crab traders, corruption in cricket, and concealing assets in his election affidavit.
On 17 May, ACC Assistant Director Sazzad Hossain filed the stock market case as complainant. The court barred Shakib from leaving the country on 16 June.
According to the case statement, the accused formed a syndicate that engaged in speculative and manipulative trading in shares of Paramount Insurance, Crystal Insurance and Sonali Papers. They allegedly inflated share prices through continuous buying and selling, luring ordinary investors and siphoning off at least Tk 2.57 billion in illicit profits.
The ACC says Abul Khair, alias Hiru, laundered Tk 299.4 million through various channels with his wife’s assistance. His 17 bank accounts reportedly recorded over Tk 5.42 billion in “unusual and suspicious” transactions.
Shakib allegedly invested in shares manipulated by Hiru and profited Tk 29.5 million in “realised capital gains” that prosecutors say was in fact criminal proceeds. In September, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) fined Shakib Tk 5 million for share price manipulation of Paramount Insurance.
The BSEC also fined Hiru Tk 2.5 million and imposed penalties on several other entities involved in the case.
