The chief executive officer of Transcom Group, Simeen Rahman, along with her mother, the group’s chairman Shahnaz Rahman, and four others, has been discharged by a Dhaka court in a fraud and forgery case filed by her sister.
The chief metropolitan magistrate’s court of Dhaka on Monday granted their discharge following a hearing in the case lodged with Gulshan police station.
With this order, Simeen Rahman, Shahnaz Rahman and other Transcom officials have now been cleared in all four cases filed by Shazreh Huq.
The court allowed the accused persons’ application for discharge in Case No. 20(02)24 of Gulshan police station. During the hearing, defence counsel submitted that the charge sheet in the alleged share transfer forgery case had been filed without recovery of the relevant share transfer deed (Form 117) and without any expert examination.
The charge sheet treated certain stamps printed in 2023 as affidavits relating to the disputed share transfer. However, the defence argued that the shares in question had been fully transferred in 2020 and duly accepted that same year by the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms (RJSC). It is impossible, they contended, to use stamps printed in 2023 in documents executed in 2020.
Finding no materials sufficient to frame charges, the court discharged the accused from the case.
The late Latifur Rahman, founder chairman and CEO of Transcom Limited, executed a deed of settlement on 12 June 2020 concerning the future management of the company and the distribution of his personal shareholding.
In addition to Latifur Rahman, all members of his family—his wife Shahnaz Rahman, his elder daughter Simeen Rahman, his younger daughter Shazreh Huq, and his son Arshad Waliur Rahman—signed the deed in token of their consent. The deed was subsequently approved at a meeting of the company’s board.
Pursuant to the settlement, Latifur Rahman executed Form 117, prescribed by the RJSC for share transfers, transferring 14,160 of his 23,600 shares in Transcom Limited to Simeen Rahman, 4,720 shares to Shazreh Huq, and 4,720 shares to his son Arshad Waliur Rahman.
The forms were duly submitted to the RJSC, which updated the share register and issued Schedule-10 reflecting the revised shareholding structure.
Latifur Rahman passed away on 1 July 2020. For nearly four years thereafter, the company continued to operate smoothly. In the tax years 2021–22 and 2022–23, the siblings declared in their respective income tax returns the shares transferred to them out of the 23,600 shares.
On 22 February 2024—nearly four years after her father’s death—Shazreh Huq filed three cases with Gulshan police station [Nos. 20(02)24, 21(02)24 and 22(02)24] on substantially similar allegations. At the time, Simeen Rahman and Shahnaz Rahman were in Singapore for medical treatment.
As the cases resulted in restrictions on their entry into Bangladesh, they filed a writ petition before the High Court and were granted permission to return on 21 March 2024.
Shortly thereafter, at 12:05 am on 22 March 2024, another case was filed, alleging murder in connection with the natural death—nine months earlier—of Arshad Waliur Rahman. Gulshan police station Case No. 19(03)24 was investigated by the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI), which found no substance in the allegation and submitted a final report. The court accepted the report and discharged the accused.
All four cases were investigated by the PBI.
In Case No. 22(02)24, it was alleged that Shahnaz Rahman, as nominee, had withdrawn funds following Latifur Rahman’s death and used the money to purchase 9,000 shares of Transcom Electronics Limited. Upon investigation, the PBI found no irregularities either in the withdrawal of funds or in the purchase of shares, and submitted a final report. The court subsequently accepted the report and discharged the accused.
In Case No. 21(02)24, it was alleged that the deed of settlement had been fabricated through forgery. The investigating officer seized the deed and related board documents and arranged for forensic examination by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). The expert opinion concluded that the signatures of Latifur Rahman, his son Arshad Waliur Rahman, and even the complainant Shazreh Huq on the deed and board documents were genuine.
On that basis, a final report was submitted and accepted by the court, resulting in the discharge of the accused.
With Monday’s discharge order in Case No. 20(02)24, Simeen Rahman, Shahnaz Rahman and other officials of Transcom Group have now been cleared of all four cases filed by Shazreh Huq.