Dhaka, Nov 12 (V7N) — Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has filed four separate cases against five individuals, including the owners of four recruiting agencies, for allegedly embezzling Tk 310.93 crore from 18,563 Bangladeshi workers sent to Malaysia.

The cases were lodged on Tuesday at the ACC’s Dhaka-1 office by Assistant Director Minhaj Bin Islam on behalf of the commission’s head office. ACC Director General Mohammad Akhter Hossain confirmed the development to the media.

According to the case details, the accused violated the terms and conditions of their licenses issued by the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) and the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA). They collected additional money from each worker beyond the government-approved recruitment fee of Tk 78,990.

Workers were also charged Tk 10,000 for passport processing and Tk 7,500 for medical examinations—expenses that were meant to be covered by the agencies. Despite workers bearing these costs themselves, the accused allegedly misappropriated the collected amounts instead of refunding them. The cases further allege that the accused used their political influence under the previous government to carry out the fraud.

The first case accuses Farida Banu, Chairperson of Celebrity International Limited, and Managing Director Md. Abdul Hai of embezzling Tk 58.39 crore from 3,486 workers.

The second case was filed against Biswajit Saha, owner of Aditi International, for swindling Tk 64.52 crore from 3,852 workers.

The third case names Mohammad Bashir, owner of Rabbi International, who allegedly defrauded 3,148 workers of Tk 52.73 crore.

The fourth case was filed against Hefzul Bari Mohammad Lutfar Rahman, owner of Ving Enterprise, accused of embezzling Tk 135.29 crore from 8,077 workers.

The ACC stated that the investigations are ongoing to determine the full extent of the financial misconduct and to recover the embezzled funds. The agency reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring justice for the affected migrant workers and holding all responsible parties accountable under the law.

END/RKB/AJ/