Fraud gang ‘meddles with election commission server’

The photographs in two National Identity Cards (NIDs) are of the same person, but the names, the parents’ names, the dates of birth and the addresses are different. Yet as per the rules of the election commission, both of the identity cards are legitimate. The man uses one of the cards for personal use and the other for dubious purposes.

In an investigation into two cases of bank loan fraud, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has identified three such persons who have more than one ‘legal’ NID.

These fraudsters were identified as Abul Kalam Azad, Abdul Latif Rubel and Md Shihab Uddin. They used their fake NIDs to take loans of Tk 11 million from two branches of Dutch Bangla Bank Limited (DBBL) and Prime Bank Limited (PBL) in the capital city.

All the documents, including a trade license used to obtain the loans, were based on these fake NIDs.

Persons involved with the investigation said there were similar cases of NID fraudulence in the past, but this case was unique.

This issue poses as a serious threat to the national security, they said, adding that this was the first time they found one person with two different ‘legal’ NIDs.

DMP’s intelligence unit (north) is investigating the cases of loan embezzlement from DBBL and PBL.

The DMP wing’s deputy commissioner Moshiur Rahman told ProthomAlo that one person cannot have more than one NID.

During an interrogation, he added, the frauds confessed that they had bribed some persons who work with the EC’s NID servers. They spent between Tk 300,000 and Tk 350,000 for a single fake NID.

“One can make two passports, two driving licenses using such NIDs. It is exposing us to insecurity,” Moshiur Rahman said.

The people linked to the investigation also said on 5 December 2018, Abul Kalam Azad, Abdul Latif Rubel and Md Shihab Uddin managed to get a Tk 6 million loan from Dutch-Bangla Bank’s New Market branch and Tk 5 million from the Mahakhali branch of Prime Bank.

They first rented an office for ‘Cotton Zone’ at Elephant Road. Later, with the help of Shihab Uddin, they find a person, Abdul Alim, who had 50 decimals land in Bashundhara residential area. They made a photocopy of his land deed. Shihab Uddin then made a fake NID in Abdul Alim’s name.

Intelligence officials said a certain Mohammad Ali was made guarantor against the loan at the DBBL. Mohammad Ali then used his fake NID as Md Monsur Ali to pursue the loan.

The officials also said a certain Shamsuddin Azad was made guarantor for PBL’s loan and also used his fake NID as Harunur Rashid.

Abul Kalam Azad introduced them to the EC office for the fake NIDs, the intelligence officials added.

They said Abul Kalam Azad, Shihab Uddin and Abdul Latif were masterminds behind the scam.

Shihab and Latif have already made a confessional statements in this regards.

Abul Kalam is a former employee of City Bank. He was sacked, after which he began running a grocery shop. He later shifted to the cloth business and resorted to fraud. He is from Harirampur upazila of Manikganj district. In Dhaka, he used to live in Baridhara. Police are now searching for him to place him under arrest.

NID sub-division director general Brigadier General Saidul Islam on Friday told Prothom Alo that the matter was strange. If a person tries to make more than one NID, at least the finger prints should be caught out.

He also said the matter will be investigated.

“Disciplinary action was taken against others with such scams in the past,” he added.

*This report, originally published in Prothom Alo print edition, has been rewritten in English by Toriqul Islam