Blank cheques found in Evaly’s locker

Some blank cheques have been recovered from one of the two lockers found in the controversial e-commerce company Evaly's Dhanmondi office.

The locker was cracked open by the management committee, appointed by the High Court, in presence of the Dhaka South City Corporation Executive Magistrate Asfia Sirat on Monday.

Ninety-seven cheque books of Midland Bank and 10 of Citi Bank, and some other papers were found in the first locker.

Members of the management committee visited the Dhanmondi office at noon and brought the lockers out around 3pm.

Among the members, retired judge of the Appellate Division AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik and former Additional Secretary Mahbub Kabir Milon, who has been appointed managing director (MD) of Evaly, were present there.

AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik said the High Court directed Evaly chief Mohammad Rassel and his wife Shamima Nasrin to disclose the combination numbers of the lockers.

"As the committee did not receive anything from them, the decision was taken to break open the lockers," he added.

"We have already broken into a locker and found several cheque books. However, we are disappointed, because these are no longer valid. Another locker will be cracked and would later be known what's in it," he told the media.

Evaly's controversial business strategy has come to the fore following a central bank inspection report on the e-commerce firm last year.

On 16 September 2021, an embezzlement case was filed against Evaly CEO Mohammad Rassel and his wife Shamima Nasrin, also the chairman of the company, with the Gulshan police station.

A few hours later, the RAB raided their house in Mohammadpur and arrested the couple.

Two days into the arrest of Rassel and Shamima in a case filed by a customer, a supplier on Saturday night lodged a case against the couple and 25 more officials of the controversial e-commerce platform.

Amid the mismanagement at Evaly, the government formed a governing board with external experts including bureaucrats to look after the online shopping platform on 26 October 2021.