BANGLADESH

A Dhaka court has bailed five people accused in two fraud cases filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Dhaka's Chief Metrpolitan Magistrate Court's judge A G M Al Maud granted the bail requests of Abu Sadat Mohamad Sayem, Abdul Amin Molla, Syed Siraj-ud-Doulla, Rasheda Akhter Maya and Habibur Rahman Morol on Tk 5,000 bonds on Monday.

The suspects had allegedly conned the investors by making transactions in bulk among themselves before selling their shares off at high prices for unlawful gains, according to the cases.

SEC director Mahbuber Rahman Chowdhury on Aug 21 filed one case against Siraj-ud-Doula, his wife Maya and Morol for trading shares of People's Leasing and Financial Services Limited by increasing the face value.

The case alleged they purchased and sold shares of People's Leasing and Financial Services Limited among each other at the brokerage house FPI Securities.

Another case was filed against Sayem and Mollah for manipulating the face value of shares of Eastern Housing Limited.

They had raised the price of Eastern Housing Limited shares by 25 percent by trading through eight accounts at Motijheel's Salta Capital Limited, the case said.

The cases are based on the report of the government-commissioned investigation committee, formed over the stocks debacle that caused two bourses to close for a few days.

Eleven people including chairman of the committee Khondkar Ibrahim Khaled, members Toufic Ahmad Choudhury, Mohamed Abdul Baree and Nihad Kabir have been made witnesses in the cases.