Businessman and member of the Jatiya Sangsad Salman Fazlur Rahman was born in Bangladesh on May 23, 1951. He serves as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh’s advisor. He currently holds the position of a cabinet minister and assists Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina with investment and private industry matters.
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He has previously advised her on matters about the private sector’s role in development. In 2017, Hurun Global, a Beijing-based company, produced a list of the world’s billionaires, placing him at 1685.
One of the biggest corporations in Bangladesh, Beximco Group, has him as vice chairman. He served as the head of many organizations, notably the Association of Television Channel Owners (ATCO).
How Is Salman F Rahman Linked to Beximco?
Bangladesh Export Import Corporation Limited, also known by its trade name BEXIMCO or in Bangla as Bangladesh Export Import Company Limited is a worldwide conglomerate holding corporation with its headquarters in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Early in the 1970s, it was founded.
With the greatest market capitalization on the local stock market, BEXIMCO claims to be Bangladesh’s largest conglomerate. Currently, BEXIMCO operates in and makes investments in a variety of sectors, including textiles, pharmaceuticals, personal protective equipment, ceramics, real estate development, construction, commerce, marine food, information and communication technology, media, DTH, financial services, and energy.
In 1972, shortly after Bangladesh gained its independence, brothers A. S. F. and Salman F Rahman established the business. The jute industry had been a family enterprise in the past. In the early 1970s, the jute manufacturing plant was nationalized.
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Charges of Fraud Against Salman F Rahman:
Salman F Rahman and Sohail F. Rahman were co-founders of the Beximco Group when two cases involving stock market fraud were dismissed by the Dhaka High Court in 1996.
The High Court judges Syed Muhammad Dastagir Husain and Md Salim gave the order, and a complete copy of it has been made public. The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said that it was going to appeal the ruling as soon as the order was covered by the media.
Managing Director DH Khan, vice chairman Salman F Rahman, and chairman of the Beximco Group Sohail F. Rahman were named in the lawsuits brought by the capital market regulator SEC.
Salman, who currently serves as the Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s private sector industry and investment adviser, told the press, that they had waited so long, knowing the cases had no merit, and the High Court verdict proves it. On the other hand, I can claim that he shielded himself from the blame for which he was truly held accountable.
After accepting payments from investors in 1996, the SEC filed a case against 36 people and 15 organizations for deliberately inflating the stock market.
After the special stock market tribunal was established from the chief metropolitan magistrate court, cases were first moved there. The accused parties and groups, however, quickly went to the Dhaka High Court to ask for the cases to be dropped.
After the last hearings in March 2015, the cases were dismissed after a lengthy delay. The High Court noted in its ruling that the accusations against the defendant are vague and ambiguous. Additionally, none of the people or entities implicated in both of these cases had any proof against them.
What is Money Laundering?
Money laundering is an illegal process that involves concealing the origin of illegally obtained funds and transforming them into legitimate sources of income. This is done to evade prosecution, conviction, and the seizure of criminal proceeds. Essentially, it’s a way to turn “dirty” money into “clean” money.
Salman F Rahman Receives Bail from the HC in a Fraud Case
In a case involving fraud and embezzlement, the High Court issued bail to Salman F Rahman, an industrial advisor for the Awami League and a successful businessman, on November 5, 2007.
The Anticorruption Commission and the government were also the subjects of a ruling from the High Court bench of justices Shah Abu Nayeem Mominur Rahman and Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury, in which they were questioned as to why Salman’s writ petition would not have the case’s processes ruled invalid.
On September 30, the ACC filed a case with the Motijheel Police Station against Salman F Rahman, the vice chairman of the Beximco Group, his brother, the group’s chairman, Sohel F. Rahman, the former managing director of Shinepukur Holdings, Mahmudur F. Rahman, and four other individuals.
In the case, it was stated that Salman F Rahman & other defendants obtained bank loans totaling roughly Tk 108 crore through forgery and fraud.
Mahmudur Rahman is accused of presenting fraudulent land records for 83 acres in Gazipur to seek loans totaling Tk 74 crore.
Salman F Rahman was represented by attorney Rafiqul Haque in the writ petition that contested the validity of the case.
Mahmudur Rahman was given advance bail in the case on October 9 by a vacation bench of the High Court.
In a corruption case that the ACC had brought on November 4, the HC issued bail to Salman F Rahman.
The Anticorruption Commission filed a case against Salman F Rahman on October 1 alleging that he amassed Tk 182 core by extending a loan of Tk 192 core from AB Bank by fabricating paperwork for six pieces of land in Gazipur.
Salman F Rahman: Beximco’s Vaccine Exposure
Rozina Islam, one of Bangladesh’s leading investigative journalists, was detained while filming records about a massive vaccine-related scam that was taking place at the nation’s health ministry.
Beximco Pharma and India’s Serum Institute have agreed to buy 30 million doses of Astra Zeneca vaccines in the first phase and 5 million doses every month after that.
However, it was unable to establish a cooperative production agreement with Astra Zeneca or Serum Institute.
Before Beximco’s agreement with Serum Institute, in October of the previous year, Bharat Biotech proposed producing its Covaxin in Bangladesh.
However, bizarrely, the Bangladeshi health ministry rested on this record, and diplomatic pressure from India to carry out the agreement had no effect. Rozina Islam was attempting to uncover a powerful hand that was obstructing the deal, according to a senior coworker at Prothom Alo, the company Rozina worked for.
According to a government circular, Salman F Rahman, the founder of Beximco, has been designated by PM Hasina as her adviser for privately owned businesses and investments under regulation 3B(i) of the Rules of Business, 1996.
Beximco reportedly claimed that it owes Bangladeshi banks US$800 million in a New York Times article. Salman F Rahman was referred to as “allegedly one of Bangladesh’s biggest loan defaulters” in a cable from the American embassy that was made public by WikiLeaks.
Because it reveals Rahman’s wide political connections across the Awami League-BNP-Jamaat split, the cable is interesting to read. A renowned business expert who declined to be named for fear of violent punishment said, “He has his eggs in all baskets.”
In 2008, the military-backed temporary administration detained him for fraud. Beximco has been permitted to restructure its loan repayments by the Bangladesh Bank since 2009. The group claims that the former Bangladesh Nationalist Party administration tried to smear it using Salman F Rahman’s connections to the Awami League. That, however, is a white lie.
Morshed Khan, a former BNP minister who is Rahman’s brother-in-law, has taken good care of Beximco’s and Salman’s interests. As a result, when Khan became involved in a recent case brought by the Anti-Corruption Case, he was flown to London in a private jet that the Rahman family had hired, breaking all Corona time restrictions.
Participation of Salman F. Rahman in the Agreement between Beximco and Indian Oil Corporation
An agreement to establish a 50:50 joint venture company for the sale of LPG in Bangladesh has been inked by Indian Oil Corporation and Beximco LPG. The JVC will start operating by the business strategy by acquiring the LPG assets currently owned by Beximco.
A diverse company, RR Holdings Ltd (RRH), operates in and makes investments in a variety of sectors, including oil & gas, power, textiles, and trading.
Due to the availability of reasonably priced LPG in Bangladesh, this new agreement, which was signed in the Indian capital of New Delhi at a ceremony officiated and overseen by Dharmendra Pradhan, Indian Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Steel, is anticipated to be the driving force for socioeconomic progress in that nation.
Just last year, Beximco LPG also sent a shipment of LPG cylinders to the Indian Oil Cooperation (IOC) for distribution to India’s landlocked northeastern states.
Both nations have been able to retain a sufficient supply of LPG to meet the expanding energy needs despite the uncertainties surrounding COVID-19. However, this JVC is expected to strengthen the current energy infrastructure even more and would function by first purchasing Beximco’s current LPG holdings.
Speaking at the event were Salman F Rahman, co-founder of the Beximco Group and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s private industry and investment adviser; Nasrul Hamid, MP, State Minister for Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources; and Sanjiv Singh, Chairman of Indian Oil Corporation.
In his speech, Dharmendra Pradhan described the deal as a landmark that portended a bright future for both nations. Salman F Rahman, a prominent business figure in Bangladesh, praised the tenacious and enduring friendship between India and Bangladesh.
He claimed that, at a time when the entire globe is combating the dangerous COVID-19, the JVC stands as evidence of our nation’s exceptional investment potential, which is being unleashed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s proactive leadership.
Shayan F. Rahman, Chairman of RR Holdings, who was also present at the ceremony, emphasized IOC’s competence in the entire hydrocarbon industry and added that JVC might help us grow to be the greatest downstream oil and gas firm in Bangladesh.
Businesses are looking at opportunities that can improve lives and supplement the financial security of staff members at a moment when the entire globe is searching for a potential vaccine or treatment to cure COVID-19.
Although the JVC strives to be the most dependable and premier LG Company, elements such as lubricant blending plants, LNG, petrochemicals, exports of LPG to North East India, energy from renewable sources, etc. may become the most secure and practical LPG solutions.
Salman F Rahman: Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) and Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) trading debut
According to Salman F Rahman, private industry and financial consultant to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh’s capital market faces two significant issues from the beginning of January 2022: infrastructure and trading patterns of institutional and individual investors.
He commented at a gathering as Beximco Green-Sukuk Al Istisna, the nation’s first asset-backed security issued by a private firm, began trading on the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) and Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE).
The function was conducted in the DSE Tower in Dhaka, and the vice chairman of the Beximco Group was invited as the chief guest.
Two issues with the nation’s capital market, he claimed in his speech, are widely discussed.
Infrastructure-related issues are one issue, while trading patterns of institutional and retail investors in an established market are another.
“Our market exclusively uses equity as a basis. This is a significant shortcoming, and the Securities and Exchange Commission is considering this as it works to grow the debt market,” he continued.
Salam F. Rahman expressed optimism about the potential use of bonds to finance future significant government projects. Even though he is working to advance bond projects that are also connected to his business for his gain.
He claimed that because of a lack of business practices, the nation’s brokerage houses are only treated as brokers and that “brokerage houses must implement business procedures to qualify as institutions and this will assist in restoring the trust of investors.”
Salman F Rahman: Disputed the Truths Revealed in The Daily Star Report
Salman F Rahman, vice chairman of the Beximco Group of Companies, named The Daily Star and Prothom Alo as the “Minus Two” theory’s creators during an emergency rule press conference.
The claim is unequivocally rejected by us as absurd. Other broad and sweeping accusations were leveled by Salman F Rahman at The Daily Star and Prothom Alo. He alleged that these two publications had engaged in a sustained campaign of hatred against his business and had practiced unethical journalism to disparage his industry to prevent the realization of his company’s bold expansion plans.
When DSE looked into Bextex, a Z category business, and its erratic share trading immediately before its AGM and dividend announcement, the media recently concentrated on them.
Salman Rahman claimed that their findings were inaccurate about the release of dividends and asset revaluation, however, our reports were based on information that the Dhaka Stock Exchange provided on its website, which is still accessible today. Both The Daily Star and Prothom Alo had not reached their conclusions.
They never charged Salman F Rahman or Beximco with engaging in insider trading, in regards to the claim. In their research, they drew attention to two banks’ suspicious activity on that stock just before the dividend announcement.
They only revealed these facts in their article to warn the public, as they believed it was our journalistic responsibility to safeguard investors’ interests. Additionally, it was noted in the study that some persons had referred to it as a wise investment choice and others had questioned whether it qualified as insider trading.
The report claims that it is important to remember that the proprietors of Beximco were formerly directors of the banks in issue and that they withdrew millions of Taka through more than a hundred fictitious accounts in the 1990s, which the Bangladesh Bank later discovered.
As a result, Sohel F. Rahman and Salman both had to leave their positions on the bank boards. Their focus on the stock trading of this firm was also attracted by Beximco’s prior history, which included being implicated in a 1996 stock swindle alongside other companies, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Beximco is still facing charges in the share fraud case.
Salman F Rahman: Allegation of Unusual Share Trading
Beximco has come under fire for allegedly being one of the 60 main players in the 2011 Bangladesh stock market scandal. No concrete evidence had been discovered against any of the people or organizations charged in the case, according to the High Court’s ruling. However, after a few years of their retirement, all of the judges who handed down the rulings under duress and coercion were discovered to have enormous assets that far exceeded their reported sources of income.
Khaled argued in favor of disclosure by saying that first information reports frequently result in the publication of suspects’ names.
But he emphasized that to prosecute them, thorough investigations were required.
The committee has cautioned government officials against being swayed by market actors including business billionaire Salman F. Rahman, a supporter of AL, and former DSE president Rakibur Rahman.
Khaled said, “The government must maintain vigilance so that Salman F Rahman, Rakibur, and other prominent market players cannot sway SEC appointments through recommendations or advocacy.”
Salman F Rahman and Rakibur, according to the committee, were designated as suspects in the investigation report on the 1996 stock manipulation.
Their roles were discovered to be widely suspected by the public during the investigation into the current bourse scandal.
There have been claims that the two influenced the SEC and advocated for the reappointment of Mansur Alam as an SEC member and the appointment of Ziaul Haque Khandaker as SEC chairman.
According to the article, Salman F Rahman persuaded the governor of the Bangladesh Bank to modify the central bank’s stance on BD-Thai Aluminium, which had been charged with money laundering. Salman F Rahman was also involved in money laundering, which is what we can offer about him.
Additionally, it claimed that he was connected to the overpricing of shares and the overvaluation of the property of GMG Airlines and Unique Hotel.
The study claimed that Salman and Rakibur improperly influenced the SEC and damaged the government’s reputation as a result.
When reached, Salman F Rahman, who is currently in London, said he will soon come home and review the investigation’s findings.
The powerful businessman said that the SEC had given its clearance to everything he performed in the stock market. He was unable to determine why the investigation committee had alerted the authorities about him.
Research revealed that merchant banks’ omnibus shadow accounts did not accurately show deposits and withdrawals.
Former BNP legislator Mosaddeq Ali Falu, Unique Hotel and Resorts Ltd, former Awami League lawmaker HBM Iqbal, Muniruddin Ahmad, Roksana Amjad, Golam Mostafa, Ahsan Imam, Yakub Ali Khandaker, New England Equity Ltd, Md Lutfar Rahman (Badol), and Shoma Alam Rahman are a few of the account holders.
According to Khaled, “Beneficiary owner accounts trading on the secondary market is now transparent thanks to Central Depository Bangladesh Ltd. However, improper trading had taken place using omnibus accounts.
The actual cause was something else entirely: Salman F Rahman had established and worked to grow a Monetary Intelligence Division that looked into two economic disasters for Bangladesh: money laundering and bank bad debt.
Salman F Rahman came in first place with his business conglomerate on both counts. And that appears to be his only real qualification for the position of advisor in Bangladesh PMO, which is a complete disgrace given that the fastest-rising economies in Asia have been guided by a brilliant Finance Minister, AMA Muhith, and a more brilliant Governor of the Bangladesh Bank, Atiur Rahman, who has won the Best Central Banker Award multiple times.
“A small band of thugs robbed the nation and stashed all their loot in safe tax havens abroad,” said Indian economist Indraneel Bhowmik, who closely monitors the Bangladeshi economy. “One set of brilliant men made money for Bangladesh, the poor working class of the nation trusted the leadership and parked their hard-earned money in the national banking system.
Similar opinions were voiced by Joseph Alluchin, who produced the most comprehensive exposé on Bangladesh Bank scams.
The disappearance of tens of millions of dollars from Bangladesh’s banks is not new. The everyday heist of Bangladesh’s financial system, including by some of its supposed protectors, is far worse than the high-flying computer fraud at the Federal Reserve.
The six state-owned commercial banks (SOCBs) in the nation hold around a quarter of all bank assets, but because of their ties to the executive branch, they also have a significant impact on the nation’s economy.
For instance, the IMF reports that SOCBs have “extremely high” nonperforming loan rates and that the average for the total banking sector is “very high,” or around 11 percent, compared to about 4 percent in wealthy countries.
At the beginning of last year, Salman F Rahman told the New York Times in an interview that he owed state-owned banks roughly $800 million. He attributed the failure to pay off his obligations to the previous administration, which was run by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, a fierce competitor of the Awami League, the current ruling party.
However, by the time Salma F Rahman was speaking to the New York Times, Sheikh Hasina, the Bangladeshi prime minister and leader of the Awami League, had hired him as an adviser. Additionally, the Bangladesh Bank was “restructuring” its obligations at this time.
Salman F Rahman is no different. A former bank chairman who is suspected of being the scam’s mastermind is said to have stolen $565 million worth of assets from the state-owned BASIC Bank between 2009 and 2012. However, the anticorruption commission looking into the fraud reportedly ignored him because of his political connections. Politicians control the banking industry in Bangladesh.
The main reason for this is the weak and underfunded public institutions. All of the conventional checkpoints, including technocrats, auditors, and judges, are insufficiently powerful or able to restrain politicians in Bangladesh.
According to the NGO Global Financial Integrity, $3.3 billion in illicit wealth left Bangladesh in 2004 while $9.7 billion did so in 2013, a significant increase. That amounts to more than 6% of GDP in that year and is more than 3.5 times what Bangladesh received in foreign aid for development.
Bangladesh ought to have taxed that money. If it had been taxed, there presumably would have been less bank fraud and overseas hiding of illegal funds.
Mr. Rahman was referred to as “allegedly one of Bangladesh’s biggest bank loan defaulters” in a 2007 cable from the US ambassador to Dhaka, which WikiLeaks later made public. In 2007–2008, during the interim administration, he went to jail for fraud.
Salman F Rahman: Additional Charges Regarding the Pharmaceutical Group
It was noted that Beximco Pharmaceutical, a Cayman Islands-registered firm, has litigation against it in Hong Kong and that Salman F Rahman claimed that it negatively projected the agreement between Beximco Pharmaceutical and Gem Global.
The press reports gave it the public attention it deserved to protect our investors and the nation’s economy because of its abrupt entry into the stock market with heated money.
Latifur Rahman, the owner of Transcom Group, and Salman F Rahman were both mentioned in the written declaration. The general public is aware that the editors at The Daily Star and Prothom Alo are in charge of the publications’ editorial content and that the owners have no influence over it.
Because of this, these two periodicals have garnered the support of their readership. It is completely false to imply that our reporting might not be the work of a true journalist.
Conclusion
Finally, would you say that Salman F Rahman is ruining Bangladesh even though he is part of its Government? According to media reports, he is involved in several scams, including those involving vaccines, pharmaceuticals, money laundering, stock market trading, and many other unethical practices.
What is your opinion of this Government official? Do you think he should be reprimanded?
Share your thoughts in the comments below.
He is a bloody criminal. But a journalist who was just doing her job of exposing him instead gets detained by the police. How the hell is this justice? What is even happening?
This politician is a criminal and should get punished. Politicians like him are the reason why Bangladesh is not able to develop. The economic growth of this country gets highly affected by such massive scams.
This is the true reality of the government. These people who are at the top claim that they work for the benefit of the common people and want to serve the nation. Is this how they are going to be serving the nation?
Did he receive bail from the high court? Are you kidding me? This is ridiculous. This shouldn’t have happened. This doesn’t give the right message to the people of this country.
This is not at all right. This should not be happening. These are so big scams. He has stolen so much money. If he doesn’t get punished then I don’t understand how this country will get saved from such politicians.
This man is a fraudster and used his power to do such big scams. All these big scams and still he got a bail. I don’t know what to say about this. We all should never trust such politicians.
This is sick. This man is a big fraud. He has done so many frauds and yet is not punished. This shows that corruption has reached what level in Bangladesh. He is a minister his responsibility is to take care of his people but he is busy misusing his power for his greed.
I am feeling so angry after reading this article. This man has done such massive scams and is using his power to stop a journalist who was just doing her job of exposing such criminals.
He is such a corrupt politician. He deserves to be in jail. How the hell can he deceive his countrymen like this? He has been a part of such big scams. He is a criminal and should get treated the way how a criminal is treated.
These are all liars. This man is not here to serve the nation but to just fulfill his greed. He must be ashamed of himself for deceiving his countrymen in this way. He must get a very harsh punishment otherwise corrupt politicians like him will get encouraged and will think that they can do whatever they want.
If politicians like him don’t get punished for their crimes then I don’t know what is going to be the future of this country. He is a fraud person who for his greed has stolen the hard-earned money of the taxpayers of this country.
I don’t get it what the hell is the media doing? Why do they not cover such important news of such corrupt politicians? They are busy covering silly news which is of no benefit for anyone. They must expose such corrupt people so that everybody can know about the reality of these people.
He is ruining Bangladesh. He must get a very harsh punishment. He has gone against the nation’s benefit. He has deceived his countrymen. He deserves to be behind bars. This is sad that people like him use their power to get away from legal actions.
He has misused his political power and scammed the whole nation this is ridiculous. Then these people say that they want to work for the benefit of the common people of the nation. They are such big liars and frauds. No one can ever trust people like him.
This is horrible. There are so many people like him who are at the top and use their power to fulfill their greed. People like him get the support of people who also are corrupt like them. If we do not say anything now then this will not stop. We all should speak against such fraud politicians.
This article has exposed his truth. If the media would have done their job this well. Then there would have never been a situation like this. They should be exposing such criminals in front of everyone rather than showing us rubbish all the time.
If corrupt politicians like him do not get punished then it will result in a very horrifying condition. This is not going to benefit the nation and scams like these will affect the life of the common people of this country in a very bad way.
This is why it is so important that we research well about the politicians before voting. So that people like him do not get elected. These people just do corruption and want to fulfill their agendas. They have no love for the nation and surely don’t want the country to grow.
Politicians like him are the reason why it becomes hard for the common people to have faith in the government. If they do not get punished they will stay corrupted. This will affect the life of common people.
What? How can they do this? They detained one of Bangladesh’s top investigative journalists, Rozina Islam because she was documenting a large vaccine-related fraud that was going on inside the country’s health ministry. This is horrifying that a journalist who was doing her job of exposing the crime of an influential politician gets punished for that.