Dhaka, Oct 31 (V7N) – Bangladesh Bank has filed a case against former Chhatra Dal central vice president Mohammad Maruf Elahi Roni and three others over the alleged embezzlement of funds from savings certificates through fraudulent activities. Mohiuddin Ahmed, the identity verifier on Roni’s bank account opening form, has also been named in the case. The other two accused are Arifur Rahman Mim, a client of NRB Commercial Bank’s Dinajpur branch, and his identity verifier Al Amin.

The complaint was filed on Thursday at Motijheel Police Station by Abul Khayer M. Khalid, Deputy Director of Bangladesh Bank. Police arrested Arifur Rahman Mim from the Motijheel area on the same day.

According to the case statement, the accused illegally accessed Bangladesh Bank’s user IDs provided by the National Savings Directorate. They manipulated customer mobile numbers and account details to divert funds. Using this method, two savings certificates totaling Tk 50 lakh under Roni’s Dutch-Bangla Bank Karwan Bazar branch account were targeted, though the central bank froze the funds before withdrawal. Another officer, S.M. Rezvi, discovered that Tk 25 lakh from a savings certificate was illegally transferred to Arifur Rahman Mim’s account at NRB Commercial Bank, Dinajpur, and later withdrawn in cash.

Roni, a 2007–08 session student of Dhaka University’s Food and Nutrition Department, denied any involvement, stating that his account had a transaction limit of Tk 5 lakh and currently held around Tk 35,000. He suggested that political motives may have been behind the fraudulent attempt.

The investigation revealed that on October 22, the victim’s mobile number was changed in the savings certificate online management system, followed by account alterations to facilitate the illegal transfer. Arifur Rahman Mim’s transaction profile was manipulated to exceed his normal limits.

In response, Bangladesh Bank’s Motijheel office suspended all savings certificate operations from Tuesday, affecting thousands of clients, and seized related computer systems. New user IDs and passwords were issued to enhance security. The Financial Intelligence Unit has seized suspicious accounts, and separate committees from the Ministry of Finance, Bangladesh Bank, BFIU, and NRB Commercial Bank are investigating the incident.

The case underscores the importance of cybersecurity in Bangladesh’s banking sector and highlights vulnerabilities in the management of savings certificate transactions.

END/SMA/AJ/