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Bangladesh’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has filed a money laundering case against online travel company Flight Expert and seven of its officials over the alleged misappropriation of Tk 34.69 crore after collecting advance payments for airline tickets that were never delivered.
The case was filed at Motijheel Police Station on July 11 based on findings from the CID’s Financial Crime Unit, Special Superintendent of Police (Media) Jasim Uddin Khan said on Monday.
The accused include Flight Expert Managing Director and CEO Salman Bin Rashid Shah Sayem, President M.A. Rashid Shah Samrat, Directors Amir Hamza Rashid Shah Nayem, A.K.M. Shahadat Hossain and Abdul Gani Mehdi, Head of Finance Md. Sakib Hossain, and Motaher Hossain, proprietor of Soma International Services.
According to the CID, Flight Expert began operating as an online airline ticketing platform in 2016 and later expanded into hotel bookings, Hajj and Umrah packages, and other travel services. Although it was registered as a joint-stock company in 2019, it continued conducting business and banking transactions under the Flight Expert brand.
Investigators said the company attracted customers and sub-agents with unusually large discounts, collecting substantial advance payments for airline tickets through both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) channels.
However, many customers never received the tickets they had paid for. The CID said the company’s Managing Director, Salman Bin Rashid Shah Sayem, left Bangladesh on August 1 after the alleged fraud came to light.
The investigation found that funds deposited into various Flight Expert bank accounts were later transferred between multiple accounts and routed to individuals and other entities in an alleged attempt to conceal the origin, ownership, and nature of the proceeds.
Even after the Managing Director left the country, several directors and the company’s Head of Finance allegedly continued withdrawing and transferring significant amounts of money from company accounts.
The CID also found that while Flight Expert sourced tickets through IATA-authorised travel agencies, it allegedly failed to issue tickets in many cases despite receiving full payment from customers. Investigators further identified instances where payments were collected from multiple sources for the same ticket.
According to the CID, preliminary findings indicate that Tk 34,69,31,090 was fraudulently obtained and subsequently laundered through a series of banking transactions involving transfers, withdrawals, and conversions. The agency said the investigation is ongoing and further legal action will be taken based on the findings.
