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Police have arrested Soumen Saha, 35, the owner of Trust Gold and Diamond Limited, on charges of embezzling Tk 143.8 million through a fraudulent joint business investment scheme in Dhaka’s Gulshan area.
He was arrested from the Hatirjheel Police Station area at around 9:30 am on Friday (July 3).
According to Niaz Mehedi, Additional Deputy Commissioner (Media) of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), the accused first met the complainant, Biplob Chakraborty, in 2020 at Metro Shopping Mall in Dhanmondi for business purposes.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the two developed a close personal relationship based on trust.
In 2023, Soumen allegedly borrowed Tk 5 million from the complainant, claiming he needed the money to purchase gold from Dubai.
Later, he proposed opening a new jewellery shop named Trust Gold and Diamond Limited at Police Plaza Concord Shopping Mall in Gulshan and promised to make the complainant a business partner.
Using this promise, he took Tk 43 million from the victim.
Police said Soumen subsequently collected a total of Tk 143.8 million from the complainant through cash payments and cheques over different periods.
Despite the investment, the complainant allegedly received neither any share of the profits nor a financial statement. Instead, Soumen repeatedly delayed settlement with various excuses. When the complainant later demanded an account of the investment, the accused allegedly threatened and intimidated him.
Based on the complaint, a fraud case was filed with Gulshan Police Station.
Niaz Mehedi said a team from Gulshan Police Station, acting on intelligence and information technology-based surveillance, conducted a raid in the Hatirjheel area and arrested Soumen on Friday. He has since been produced before the court.
