Investors want resumption of Destiny Limited operations

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In the similar manner, top policymakers of Destiny Group, including its Chairman Mohammed Hussain and Managing Director Rafiqul Amin may be released on interim bail for six months with the condition of returning a certain amount of money to the investors. Writes Tajul Islam

Within the span of just few years, Multi Level Marketing (MLM) company Destiny Limited succeeded in emerging into one of the largest establishments in the world creating direct and indirect job opportunities to millions of people. Destiny is the only MLM company in the world that has expended business and investments in various sectors, including real estate, tea plantation, aviation, broadcast, publication etcetera while it also was aspiring of entering into insurance, banking, pharmaceutical, hospital and many other sectors in Bangladesh. Tremendous success of Destiny Limited was possible because of dynamic leadership of its Chairman Mohammed Hussain and Managing Director Rafiqul Amin.

According to Wikipedia, Destiny Group advertised heavily in the Bangladeshi media and was one of the major sponsors of country’s 40th independence celebration. The company sold trees to around 1.7 million investors, although Anti Corruption Commission had claimed, only 5.3 percent of those trees existed in real. But independent experts said, the evaluation of Anti Corruption Commission was not based on ground realities and exact data. They said, in most cases, such conclusions were made on the basis of adverse propaganda against Destiny Limited and its sister concerns.

It may be mentioned here that, key figures of Destiny Group, including its chairman and managing director are in prison since 2012, while in January 2020, Rafiqul Amin, managing director of Destiny Group, was sentenced to three years’ rigorous imprisonment in a case filed for not submitting his wealth statement to Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). According to legal experts, Mr. Amin does not need to serve any imprisonment as he already has been in prison for nearly 9 years, and it is anticipated, even if courts in Bangladesh hand-down rigorous or non-rigorous imprisonments to Destiny bosses, it won’t help the investors from getting their investments returned. Moreover, due to prolonged imprisonment of the key policymakers of the MLM company, many of its properties have already been illegally grabbed by several miscreants.

Experts suggest, the way Commerce Ministry has recently formulated financial transaction policy for country’s e-commerce companies, similar methods should be adopted immediately for Destiny Group, thus releasing its policymakers from prison, which will only help in resuming activities of this multi-billion taka establishment.

The commerce ministry this week came up with the new mechanism in a meeting on issues related to e-commerce at the commerce ministry.

From now on, the payment gateways will not clear payments to the e-commerce companies until and unless the buyers get the delivery of the goods they ordered.

These transactions will be supervised by the Bangladesh Bank.

Representatives from Bangladesh Bank, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, National Board of Revenue, Ministry of Home Affairs, e-Commerce Association of Bangladesh, MFS, different banks attended the meeting with Commerce Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh in the chair.

They said, in India, a large MLM company named Sahara Group had faced legal problems, when some investors pressed complaint of been not paid by the group. Key figure of Sahara Group had also been sent to prison, although apex court had allowed Subrata Roy in continuing facilities to operate activities of Sahara Group from inside the prison, while he was also granted bail under the condition of depositing ₹ 100 billion.

His deposit of ₹10,000 crore has not been made. As of August 2014, Roy was trying to sell some of his hotel properties to raise enough money. Roy was granted his first bail in May 2017 for four weeks to perform the last rites for his deceased mother, later extended to 24 October. Since then he has been successful in getting his bail extended on various grounds. As of 31 January 2019, Sahara still had to pay ₹10,621 crore to meet its total liability.

Roy claims that the company’s fundamentals are intact and assets are greater (3 to 5 times) than the liabilities. Sahara also has deposited ₹22,500 crores which will in due course of justice come back to Sahara India as it has already repaid 95 percent of its investors.

In the similar manner, top policymakers of Destiny Group, including its Chairman Mohammed Hussain and Managing Director Rafiqul Amin may be released on interim bail for six months with the condition of returning a certain amount of money to the investors. Through this method, Destiny Group will not only be able to refund the investments with profit, the company will get a new life.

Tajul Islam is a Senior Correspondent of Blitz

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