The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of police has traced a staggering Tk79.58 crore in alleged illegal earnings from sending manpower to Malaysia through syndication to 37 bank accounts held by former Feni-3 MP Lt Gen (retd) Masud Uddin Chowdhury.

Following the discovery, the specialised police unit swiftly moved to secure a court order to freeze these accounts.

On 21 April, Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge Mohammad Jakir Hossain ordered the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit to freeze the accounts, which currently hold a balance of around Tk5.92 crore, according to court and CID documents.

The court order comes following a petition filed by the Sub-Inspector of the CID Financial Crime Unit, Mohammad Moniruzzaman, on 13 April.

While the government-fixed cost per worker was Tk78,990, Masud Uddin Chowdhury, Managing Director of 5M International, and his associates allegedly took Tk4.5 lakh to Tk 6 lakh from each individual seeking employment in Malaysia.

The overcharging resulted in a massive accumulation of Tk79,58,06,190 being deposited into 37 separate accounts across various banks belonging to Masud Uddin. Of this amount, a substantial Tk73,88,92,774 was subsequently withdrawn at different times, leaving a current balance of Tk5,91,96,722.

"The CID has information that Masud Uddin illegally earned the money and laundered it to different countries," reads the CID petition, describing it as an offence under the Money Laundering Act 2012.

In August last year, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) launched an inquiry into allegations against four former MPs of engaging in syndicate business over sending workers to Malaysian.

The syndicate reportedly made a business worth Tk24,000 crore throughout one and a half years.

The four former MPs involved in the syndicate are Nizam Uddin Hazari, Masud Uddin Chowdhury, Benjir Ahmed and AHM Mustafa Kamal.               

Masud Uddin, who was very powerful during the caretaker government, led by Fakhruddin Ahmed, founded 5M International - a recruiting, training and consultancy agency - in 2015.

It topped the list in sending workers exclusively to Malaysia. Since its founding, it sent around 2,500 workers to the Middle East against 8,592 to Malaysia, according to sources.