Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) –A Bangladesh special tribunal on Monday sentenced four years imprisonment to two top officials of a textile company in a 1996 share market scam case.
The convicts are: Md Maksud Rasul, managing director of Chic Textiles, and its director Iftekar Mohammad.
Judge Humayun Kabir, of the special tribunal formed to deal with stock market scam cases, also fine the duo to BDT 30 lakh each.
In default, the convicts will have to serve six months more in jail, the court order said.
The convicts are on the run since the court proceedings began against them.
Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) filed the case against the duo on charges of manipulation and raising the stock prices on April in 1996.
The commission filed a total of 15 cases over the 1996 share market scam.
The case of Chic Textiles was the first among them to be disposed in nearly 20 years.
After the 1996 stock market debacle, the securities regulator filed a case against Chic Textiles, the then MD Rasul and director Iftekhar of the company for their alleged involvement in manipulation of share prices.
On January 2 in 2014, the Bangladesh government set up the special tribunal in a gazette notification under the Securities and Exchange Ordinance (SEO)-1969 aiming to quickly dispose of the cases relating to the stock market.
Later, on February 24 in 2014, the government appointed District Judge Humayun Kabir at the tribunal.
Kabir joined the tribunal on March 16 in 2014.
Establishment of such a special tribunal was a long-standing demand from the stakeholders to deal with the capital market-related cases.
BBN/BB/AI