Five stock investors get bail in Bangladesh

A Dhaka court on Monday granted bail to five investors in two cases filed against them for their alleged involvement in sharemarket scam.

Metropolitan Magistrate AGM Al Masud passed the order after they appeared before the court and sought bail in the cases.

Of the five, Abu Sadat Md Sayeem and his brother Abdul Mabin Molla were accused in one case, while Syed Sirajuddoula, his wife Rasheda Akhter Maya and Habibur Rahman in the other.

Sayeem and his brother are accused of manipulating share prices of Eastern Housing Ltd (EHL), a listed company, through serial trading.

Mahbuber Rahman Chaudhury, director of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), filed the two cases with the Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court on August 21 against the five individual investors.

The complainant alleged that the investors created an artificial crisis in the market by buying shares at low prices. Taking the advantage of the crisis, they later sold their shares at high prices and pocketed a huge amount of money.

The cases were filed on instructions of the finance ministry after the government probe committee recommended legal action against stockmarket manipulators.