Evaly: Supplier files embezzlement case against CEO, chairperson

Another case of embezzlement has been brought against Evaly founder and CEO Mohammad Rassel and his wife Shamima Nasrin, the chairperson of the online marketplace.

Kamrul Islam Chakdar, who had supplied Tk36 lakh worth of goods to the infamous e-commerce platform, was yet to be repaid, for which he filed an embezzlement case with the Dhanmondi police station, against the accused, said Ekram Ali Mia, officer-in-charge of the station.

According to the supplier, Evaly did not pay his dues till January and then gave a cheque in May dated 30 June, that bounced because of insufficient funds in those accounts.

Kamrul also claimed he had also received threats from Evaly officials.

When the cheque bounced twice, the supplier wrote to Evaly regarding the matter, and although the platform assured of repaying within 30 days of delivering the goods and signing a contract accordingly, they could not be contacted further.

A general diary was then filed in January with the Dhanmondi Model police station in this regard, and on visiting Evaly office later, the supplier claimed he was threatened by officials.

As a result, the case was filed under Sections 420, 406 and 506 of the Penal Code, for embezzling money and threatening the plaintiff.

Merchants and customers demonstrate demanding the release of Evaly Managing Director and CEO Mohammad Rassel at Shahbagh, Dhaka on Friday, September 17, 2021 DHAKA TRIBUNE

According to the case file, the supplier has also accused several other officials, as well as other unnamed people.

Also Read - Evaly's house of cards comes crashing down

Other accused Evaly officials are - Vice President Akash, Manager Jahedul Islam Hemoy, Senior Accounts Manager Tanvir Alam, Senior Executive Commercial Jawadul Haque Chowdhury, Head of Accounts Selim Reza, Accounts Manager Zubair Al Mahmud, Accounts Officer Sohel, Akibur Rahman Turzo, Rassel's PS Md Rezwan, and Bike Department's Shakib Rahman.

The supplier filed a case with the Dhanmondi police station on Saturday night which comes two days after the couple was apprehended by Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) members.

After a customer filed an embezzlement case with Gulshan police station, RAB arrested Rassel and his wife Shamima during a raid at their flat in Dhaka's Mohammadpur on Thursday. The arrestees are on a three-day remand in the case.

After primary interrogation, RAB claimed to quote Rassel and Nasrin, that Evaly owed more than Tk1,000 crore to its customers and suppliers but had only Tk30 lakh in its bank account.

Rassel had planned to enter the stock market after running his company for three years. He also had planned to declare himself bankrupt after failing to repay the debt, RAB said at a press conference on Friday.

Earlier, Paperfly, the country’s largest tech-bound logistic network, had also planned to sue Evaly over outstanding payments.

Evaly owes several crores of takas to Paperfly, however, the platform has not settled the Tk7 crore bill since January.

Paperfly was giving door-to-door delivery service to Evaly for quite some time and was facing a massive challenge in recovering its dues.

Evaly had lured in customers by offering huge discounts on various products, including cars and motorcycles, and did not deliver. It had also not paid its merchants and suppliers.