Fraudster’s trafficking web shatters businessmen, aspiring migrants

A man posing as a member of the BNP’s advisory council has been accused of running an organised racket that defrauded businessmen and aspiring migrants out of crores of taka through fake investment and human trafficking schemes.

The alleged ringleader, Shahin Mohammad Solaiman Mollah, was arrested from Dhaka’s Dhanmondi area on Monday. Police and multiple victims accuse him of trafficking people to the Philippines under false promises of migration to the United Kingdom, seizing their assets, and forcibly taking over businesses.

There is no leader named Shahin in the BNP's advisory council, said the party's media cell.

According to police records obtained by the Daily Sun, Shahin and his associates trafficked four people to the Philippines, holding them hostage in the name of sending them to London. He also allegedly took control of a business after abducting its owner.

On 30 September, Narayanganj Criminal Investigation Department (CID) submitted an investigative report against Shahin and his associates to a local court following a case filed by Farzana Haque in 2024.

CID Sub-Inspector Golam Mostafa, who filed the report, said Shahin had developed a business relationship with Farzana and her husband, Monirul Haque, and proposed to transfer 3.5 million pounds of his supposed business shares in London in exchange for their investment.

“Being allured, the couple paid him Tk1.82 crore through various bank accounts and later handed over ownership of four flats in Uttara,” the report read. “Shahin then took the couple and their son to the Philippines under the pretext of flying them to London, where he held them hostage and demanded more money.”

The victims eventually escaped and returned to Bangladesh, later filing the case.

Shahin’s wife, Enaliz Evasco alias Fatema, and four others – Mohammad Faisal, Anisur Rahman, Saiful Islam, and Akhter Hossain – were named as accomplices, said police.

Another victim, Mafiz Uddin, of Mirpur, told the Daily Sun that Shahin took Tk15 lakh from him in 2019 to arrange a move to London. Instead, Shahin trafficked him to the Philippines, confined him, tortured him, and extorted another Tk15 lakh from his family before he managed to escape and return home.

In a separate case, Sirazul Islam, managing director of Amruz Construction Limited, alleged that Shahin introduced himself as a member of the BNP’s advisory council and fraudulently took over his company.

Sirazul said, “He became my business partner in 2024, investing Tk50 lakh in a land deal. Later, he took a signed cheque of Tk1.5 crore from me as security for a loan worth the same. The loan was never disbursed. He then faked documents from the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms to make himself the managing director of my company.”

He added that Shahin and his associates abducted him from Mirpur on 15 April, held him, tortured him for hours, filmed the abuse, and forced him to sign legal documents, power of attorney papers, and cheques. Shahin allegedly seized two flat shares worth Tk1 crore, Tk16 lakh in cash, 10 cheques, his passport, and his car.

Sirazul then filed a case with Cantonment police station on 27 October which led to Shahin’s arrest.

AKM Alamgir Jahan, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Cantonment police station, confirmed the arrest, saying Shahin was accused of “fraud and vehicle theft under the guise of business”.

After his arrest, a significant number of people came to the police station with forgery complaints against him, said the police officer.

Separately, retired Supreme Court justice and advocate Nur Habiba Mostafa lodged a general diary with Dhanmondi police station on 15 September, accusing Shahin of refusing to vacate her rented flat and failing to pay rent or utility bills despite repeated notices.

According to police, multiple investigations are underway into Shahin’s alleged involvement in fraud, trafficking, and abduction cases spanning Dhaka and Narayanganj.