CID Special Superintendent of Police Sufi Ullah said the network regularly changed the MFS numbers and bank accounts it used to avoid law enforcement surveillance.
Representational Image. Photo: Collected
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Representational Image. Photo: Collected
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) today (4 September) said it has arrested four people in Khulna for their alleged involvement in a network that collected money for online betting through mobile financial service (MFS) numbers and bank accounts and later converted the funds into cryptocurrency for smuggling abroad.
The four are Md Rakibul Islam, 30, of Khan Jahan Ali; Ariful Islam Arzu, 26, of Terokhada; Sheikh Sakir Ahmed of Daulatpur; and Mianul Islam Ayon, 29, of Khalishpur.
According to the CID, the network first attracted customers by advertising betting sites on social media.
Customers were instructed to deposit money through specific MFS numbers, bank accounts, or cryptocurrency.
After users transferred money, an equivalent amount of betting money was credited to their betting accounts.
Agents collecting the money kept a fixed commission before transferring the remaining funds to different bank accounts.
CID Special Superintendent of Police Sufi Ullah said the network regularly changed the MFS numbers and bank accounts it used to avoid law enforcement surveillance.
New numbers and accounts were collected from agents across the country and shared with betting site operators through Telegram and other communication platforms, he added.
The collected money was subsequently converted into cryptocurrency through platforms such as Binance, with its source and destination concealed, and then allegedly transferred abroad.
A case was filed at Paltan Police Station under various sections of the Gambling Prevention Act, 2026.
Based on the investigation, the CID conducted raids in Khulna’s Khan Jahan Ali and Khalishpur areas at around 9:30pm on Wednesday (2 September) and arrested the four suspects.
The CID said the suspects admitted during preliminary interrogation to their direct involvement in the online betting and illegal money laundering network.
The investigation is ongoing, and the CID is trying to identify the masterminds of the online betting network and other associates operating in Bangladesh and abroad.
