The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the police is investigating 100 recruiting agencies known to be major beneficiaries of the labor market in Malaysia. An investigation has already been launched into 'Five M International'. The owner of this organization is Lieutenant General (retd.) Masududdin Chowdhury. The bank account of this former member of parliament has been frozen following the CID's application.

The CID says that since 2017, Five M alone has sent 9,370 workers to Malaysia.

Another member of the group sending workers to Malaysia, Ruhul Amin Swapan, is also under investigation. He is the former secretary general of the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA). His organization is called Catharsis International. Through this organization, 45,287 workers have gone to Malaysia since 2015. In addition, 1,098 people have been sent to Saudi Arabia and 49 to the United Arab Emirates.

Many agencies that send workers to Malaysia have long been accused of collecting money beyond the government's prescribed fee, owning huge assets, and laundering money. The CID has initially taken the initiative to file 25 cases against such agencies. Officials of the agency said that information about embezzling money from 100 agencies will come to light in these cases. This information was revealed by several responsible sources on Wednesday.

Yesterday, the court seized Swapan's immovable assets worth Tk 500 crore after the CID's application. Investigators say that initially information about his assets has been found. According to 7 documents, Swapan has 231 kathas of land in Bashundhara Residential Area, Uttara and Banani in the capital. Out of this, 220 kathas are in Bashundhara Residential Area. In addition, a letter was sent to the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) to find out how much money he has in which bank. The CID will also file a case against him under the Money Laundering Act. Another member of the labor market gang in Malaysia, Aminul Islam bin Abdul Noor, may be an accused in this. He has been living in Malaysia since 1995. Aminul's village is Brahmanbaria.

If you want to send workers to Malaysia, you have to register your name through a software called MyGram. Its full name is Foreign Workers Central Management System (FWCMS). The software is being run by Bestinet, a company owned by Aminul Islam, a Malaysian citizen of Bangladeshi origin, and Swapan, the founder of Catharsis.

CID says that the owners of Bestinet are Swapan and Aminul. Currently, Swapan is not in the country. A minimum of 1.5 lakh taka is taken from those who have gone to Malaysia. Again, 2 lakh to 6 lakh taka has been taken from some. As part of the investigation, CID has so far taken statements from at least 60 workers and 20 people associated with the syndicate in various ways. Those concerned say that Catharsis embezzled 6.79 billion taka by sending workers to Malaysia for a minimum of 1.5 lakh taka. According to the government, they were supposed to take 78,990 taka per person. Of this, they were supposed to get 3.57 billion taka. However, they collected an additional 3 billion taka from the workers' pockets.

Manpower exporters and CID-related people say that Malaysia allowed 10 Bangladeshi recruiting agencies to send workers in 2015. These agencies are known as a kind of syndicate or circle. The labor market was closed in 2018 due to allegations of corruption of at least 6,000 crore taka. Then, after signing a memorandum of understanding in 2021, the Malaysian government initially allowed 25 agencies to send workers. Later, the number of these agencies increased to 100.

A CID official said that in November 2024, Bayra wrote a letter to the then CID chief. The letter was given to the 'victim and affected member'. A copy of it was also given to the chief advisor. The letter alleged that about eight thousand crore taka was embezzled by sending workers to Malaysia. Former Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal, former MP Nizam Hazari, Benazir Ahmed, Masud Uddin Chowdhury, Awami League leader Mohi Uddin Mohi, Kazi Mofizur Rahman, Mubarak Ullah Shimul, Ruhul Amin Swapan and several others were mentioned as members of the syndicate. After that letter, the CID started an investigation. It found that many were involved in sending workers to Malaysia to collect several times more money and acquiring illegal assets. Now the CID will file a case against the syndicate members under the Money Laundering Act.

Sources say that investigations are underway against five agencies, including Masud Uddin Chowdhury's Five M International, Ruhul Amin Swapan's Catharsis International, Nizam Uddin Hazari's Snigdha Overseas, former Finance Minister A.H. Mustafa Kamal's Orbital Enterprises, and Benazir Ahmed's Ahmed International. In addition, the syndicate's controller in Malaysia is Aminul Islam bin Abdul Noor.

CID officials say that as part of the investigation, Swapan's immovable assets have been initially seized. After that, a money laundering case will be filed against him soon. The CID has analyzed the 'money flow chart' of these agencies in the name of sending workers to Malaysia. It has revealed information about who and how they have embezzled money outside the prescribed government fee. The minimum is 1.5 lakh taka per person. The maximum is up to 6 lakh taka per person. Sub-agencies and brokers outside the agency also received money.

Those concerned say that some are plotting to form a syndicate again. They are planning to do so sitting in the country and abroad. They are trying to corner the old ones and bring in new influential people. Again, some of the old ones are trying to stay strong in the syndicate by taking on new influential people.

The CID recently submitted its final report on a case filed in Malaysia on charges of money and human trafficking. According to the officials concerned, the final report was submitted because the plaintiff in the case did not have enough evidence to support the allegations of extortion and human trafficking against the accused. However, after the political situation changed last year, the CID has started an investigation against the labor market syndicate and agencies in Malaysia. In addition, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) is investigating four former Awami League members of parliament. They are AH Mustafa Kamal, Nizam Uddin Hazari, Masud Uddin Chowdhury and Benazir Ahmed.

Sources say that 795.86 million taka has been transacted in 37 account numbers of Masud Uddin Chowdhury's owned companies and his interested individuals and companies. Currently, 591.96 million taka is deposited in these account numbers.

Assistant Superintendent of Police Al-Mamun of the CID's Financial Crime Unit told that "Investigations are being conducted against 100 agencies involved in sending workers to Malaysia through syndicates to collect money beyond the stipulated fee. Their illegal assets in the country and abroad will be traced. We are taking the help of BFU. After the case, cooperation will be sought through Interpol to arrest the fugitives."