Destiny Group
| DSE | |
| Company type | Public limited company |
| Industry | Multilevel marketing pyramid scheme |
| Headquarters | Dhaka, Bangladesh. |
Key people | Lt General (retd) M Harun-Ar-Rashid (Chairman) Rafiqul Amin (Managing Director)[1] |
| Website | www |
Destiny group was a Bangladeshi multilevel marketing company that operated as a pyramid scheme.
History
[edit]Destiny started out as a multilevel marketing company. It grew to own a newspaper and television channel. It advertised heavily and was one of the major sponsors of Bangladesh's 40th independence celebration. It sold 50 million trees in its plantation business that did not exist, with investors being shown pictures of trees in Sundarban forest.[2] The trees were sold to 1.7 million investors but according to an anti-corruption commission only 5.3 percent of those trees existed.[3] In 2014, Destiny distributors were trying to get a new license for their multilevel marketing activities.[4]
Investigations
[edit]Reports of irregularities in the company prompted the Anti-Corruption Commission and other government agencies to launch investigations of the company.[5] The ACC investigation has found 722 bank accounts in a number of banks under the name of 37 companies of Destiny Group. Bangladesh Bank has reported that Destiny Group had laundered around 51.13 billion Bangladeshi taka ($748M as of 2006) from 2002 to 2006 through the accounts of its three sister concerns-Destiny 2000 Limited, Destiny Multipurpose Cooperative Society Limited, and Destiny Tree Plantation Limited.[6] In May 2014, ACC filed money laundering cases against 51 executives of the company.[7] The ACC has impounded 6.31 billion taka ($80.4M as of 2016) worth of assets of the company.[8]
Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury was appointed chairman of Destiny Group on 1 September 2022 on a High Court order.[9]
References
[edit]- ^ "ACC seeks Destiny Group director's wealth statement". Prothom Alo. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
- ^ Badrul Ahsan, Mohammad. "The land of Destiny". The Daily Star. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
- ^ "17.5 lakh investors cheated by Destiny Tree Plantation". Dhaka Tribune. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
- ^ "Destiny distributors seek licence". Dhaka Tribune. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
- ^ "Bangladesh's ex-army chief Harunur Rashid surrenders over graft cases". The Economic Times. PTI. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
- ^ Shah Jahan, Md. "Evidences of more corruption against Destiny Group found". The Financial Express. Dhaka. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
- ^ Foyez, Ahammad; Islam, Robiul. "ACC submits charge sheets against 51 Destiny bosses". New Age. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
- ^ "ACC presses charges against Destiny chief, MD". bdnews24.com. 2014-05-04. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
- ^ "Destiny 2000 Ltd board reconstituted with Justice Moyeenul Islam as chairman - National". The Daily Observer. Retrieved 2022-11-05.