Tk1,200–1,500 a month per lakh promised; 13,000–14,000 depositors left stranded

A multipurpose cooperative society registered with the Madarganj upazila cooperative office in Jamalpur was operating like a bank. Promising a profit of Tk 1,200 to 1,500 a month on every Tk 1 lakh deposited, it took money from about 13,000 to 14,000 customers. At first a little profit was paid; later the society's officials closed the office and went into hiding. According to the CID, the directors embezzled the money and bought expensive assets in their own names or in the names of related companies — a 15-acre brickfield, a garment factory on 350 decimals of land in Gazipur, 9 plots in Bashundhara and so on. On 9 July 2025 the court ordered the seizure of assets worth about Tk 400 crore, including a total of 3,113 decimals of land and structures. A foreign travel ban was also imposed on those involved, and a money-laundering case is under way. Although it had cooperative registration, the society had no approval for banking activities — this is the main lesson: to run a samity, deposit money must stay in loans to members, not go into other businesses or buying assets.