UK Police launches probe into missing Bangladeshi 1.7 million pounds

Police in the United Kingdom have launched a probe against a money-transfer company that failed to deliver 1.7 million pounds reportedly belonging to the Bangladeshi community here, back home.

London, July 23 : Police in the United Kingdom have launched a probe against a money-transfer company that failed to deliver 1.7 million pounds reportedly belonging to the Bangladeshi community here, back home.

According to The Times, at least 2,000 families across Asia have been affected by the incident, and this has prompted the police and detectives from the Insolvency Service to investigate why First Solution Money Transfer, based at the London Muslim Centre in Whitechapel, East London, was unable to deliver the money intended principally for the Sylhet region of Bangladesh.

Members of the British Parliament have stepped in, and said that it is next to impossible for a money transfer company to lose customers' money.

The directors of the company have strongly denied any wrongdoing. The case has created jitters about the rapid growth of the money-transfer business, which does not come under the remit of the Financial Services Authority.

The money-transfer industry, which is not subject to the same regulation as banks, is growing at 20 per cent a year and is now worth 145 billion dollars, according to the World Bank.

It grew quickly after September 11, 2001, when Western countries wanted to discourage informal money transfers across national boundaries.

The Department for International Development gave 7.5 million pounds to the Bangladesh State Bank to enourage the switch. This led to the extremely rapid growth of companies such as First Solution, which grew from a turnover of four million pounds in 2004 to 87 million pounds in 2006-07.

It was popular in the East End of London because it advertised higher exchange rates for lower fees and a quicker service to more outlying areas of Bangladesh than rivals. The company, whose Brick Lane office claimed to take up to 50,000 pounds a day, according to the East London Advertiser, stopped taking orders on June 27 and went into voluntary liquidation.

ANI