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A Dhaka court has issued arrest warrants against Foodpanda Bangladesh Managing Director Syeda Ambarin Reza and four other senior officials in two cases filed over allegations of fraud, forgery and embezzlement.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Jashita Islam issued the warrants on Wednesday after accepting investigation reports submitted by Gulshan police.
The other accused are Foodpanda co-founder and director Zubayer Siddiqui, Head of Category Dilara Faruk, Director of Delivery Mohammad Tabarez Khan, an Indian national, and Senior Manager and Director Mohammad Sajedul Haque.
According to the case documents, Shihab Mahmud Bashir, proprietor of Protein and Perishable (PNP), filed the two cases with a Dhaka court on July 3 last year, alleging fraud and embezzlement.
Bashir said he began supplying locally produced and imported fruits and vegetables to PandaMart, a Foodpanda affiliate, under an agreement signed on June 23, 2022.
He alleged that although payments were made regularly at first, the accused later engaged in fraudulent practices.
According to the complaint, against purchase orders worth Tk1 lakh, only Tk1 to Tk100 was allegedly deposited into the supplier’s bank account.
The complainant also alleged that fake signatures were used and fabricated “return to vendor” (RTV) slips were created at different locations on the same day to show that goods had been returned, resulting in large sums being withheld.
The two cases allege that around Tk3.8 crore was embezzled.
Police submitted investigation reports in the cases, stating that there was preliminary evidence supporting the allegations, according to the complainant’s lawyer.
Foodpanda, however, has described the allegations against its officials as baseless and said the cases stem from a commercial dispute.
The company said it respects the judicial process and would contest the allegations through legal means.