The Anti-Corruption Commission on Tuesday filed a case against 15 people, including former Bangladesh national cricket team captain Shakib Al Hasan, on charges of embezzling Tk 257 crore through manipulating the stock market in the country.
ACC assistant director Sajjad Hossain filed the case with the commission鈥檚 Integrated District Office in Dhaka-1, said ACC director general (prevention) Md Akhtar Hossain.
This is the first time the anti-graft agency takes legal action against Shakib Al Hasan, who previously served as a goodwill ambassador for the commission.
Shakib was also a lawmaker (elected from the Magura-2 constituency) of the Awami League government which was ousted in August 5, 2024, in a mass uprising.
The other accused in the case are Md Abul Khair Hiru, a suspended deputy registrar at the Department of Cooperatives, his wife Kazi Sadia Hasan, Abul Kalam Madbor, Kanika Afroze, Mohammad Bashar, Sajed Madbor, Aleya Begum, Kazi Fuad Hasan, Kazi Farid Hasan, Shirin Akter, Javed A Matin, Md Zahed Kamal, Md Humayun Kabir and Tanvir Nizam.
Akhtar said, 鈥楽hakib had invested funds in shares of three companies. Stock market manipulation was carried out involving the shares of the companies and the commission found Shakib鈥檚 involvement in the manipulation.鈥�
According to the case statement, the accused conspired to manipulate the stock market through unethical means, including serial trading of selected shares to artificially inflate their prices.
These activities deceived general investors and led to the misappropriation of Tk 256.97 crore from the stock market, it said.
The accused used beneficiary owner accounts to engage in speculative and manipulative trading, misleading retail investors and extracting profits through artificially engineered price hikes in specific stocks, it said.
One of the key accused, Abul Khair Hiru, allegedly laundered nearly Tk 29.94 crore with the assistance of his wife, Kazi Sadia Hasan, by transferring funds through various channels to hide sources of the money.
An ACC inquiry also found suspicious transactions of Tk 542 crore by Abul Khair Hiru through his 17 bank accounts, said the case statement.
Sources said that Abul Khair Hiru had recently been suspended from his job at the Department of Cooperatives and was now staying in the country.
The case statement also stated that Shakib invested in shares of Paramount Insurance, Crystal Insurance, and Sonali Paper 鈥� three companies targeted by Abul Khair Hiru鈥檚 stock manipulation scheme.
Shakib allegedly joined in the market manipulation and fraudulently earned nearly Tk 295 crore, which the ACC considers criminal proceeds.
On Monday, the Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Court imposed a travel ban on the 15 accused, including Shakib.
After the ouster of authoritarian Awami League regime, the ACC in April 2025 started an inquiry against Shakib over allegations of amassing illegal wealth and money laundering.
Shakib, now staying abroad, has also been implicated in several criminal cases, including one on charges of murder of a garment worker at Adabar in the capital Dhaka during the past year鈥檚 mass uprising.
He held the top spot in the International Cricket Council ODI all-rounder rankings from May 7, 2019 to February 9, 2024.
Shakib last played for Bangladesh in a two-test series against India in September 2024.
