In the space of just one era, Abdullah Hil Rakib became the owner of a huge wealth from the employee of a buying house. He is in the leadership of BGMEA. He has a dozen of businesses in the country including garments, pharmaceutical companies under his ownership.
Not only in the country, but by laundering money under the guise of import and export, the BGMEA dictator bought three luxury houses in Toronto, Canada in the joint name of himself and his wife. This year, the annual tax paid for three houses is 35 thousand 437 Canadian dollars (Tk 31 lakh).
He has applied to the Toronto City Council for approval to build three more houses. He is said to have huge investments in the Canadian stock market. According to related sources, he has built a luxury empire in Canada with smuggled money.
It was known that Rakib had a close relationship with former Inspector General of Police Benazir Ahmed. Rakib is alleged to have conspired to launder Benazir’s huge amount of money. BGMEA President and Awami League Dhaka Metropolitan North General Secretary MA Mannan Kochi helped him rise.
However, although Kachi went into hiding, Rakib is still moving openly. After the fall of the Awami League government in the students’ movement, he took the post of senior vice president of BGMEA. Detectives said that he has a role behind the instability in the garment sector.
A central bank source said no document related to the approval of a person named Abdullah Hil Rakib to invest abroad is kept in the concerned branch of Bangladesh Bank. It is clear from this that if he made any investment abroad, he did it through money laundering. Since he has accumulated wealth in his own name, it is possible to recover his money if the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) and Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) take effective initiatives.
Abdullah Hil Rakib and his wife Afroza Shaheen own three elite houses in the luxury area of Toronto, Canada. According to documents at the Toronto Metropolitan Land Registry Office, each house was purchased in the joint names of himself and his wife.
Details of the Rakib couple’s home have been found in Canadian property records. According to information received, Rakib has a house at 24 Kingsbury Cres, Toronto. The house is registered by the Toronto Metropolitan Registry Office in the joint name of Rakib and his wife Afroza Shaheen.
The total area of the house purchased on May 30, 2012 is 7 thousand 730 square feet with swimming pool next to the courtyard of the house. There are two garages for parking. Rakib has paid 18,500 Canadian dollars (Tk 1,60,000) tax against the house this year.
The third house of Rakib-Afroza couple can be found at 9 East Road in Scarborough. The total area of this house is 4 thousand 490 square feet. On January 19, 2018, they bought this house for about eight million Canadian dollars (about 8 crore rupees). In 2024, he paid 6,000 Canadian dollars (about 5.5 million taka) in taxes on the house.
According to a Canadian source, Rakib has made huge investments in the Canadian stock market by transferring money transfer from HSBC Bank Hong Kong to Royal Bank of Canada.
He has also a dozen of business establishments in the country. He has huge investments beyond the readymade garment industry. Team Pharmaceutical has built a company with a loan of around Tk 150 crore.
It is alleged that most of the loans taken in the name of this institution located in Rajshahi has been smuggled to Canada. Concerned sources said everything will come out if the BFIU investigates the matter.
According to sources, Rakib joined the job as an employee of a foreign buying house named ‘Tax Ebo’ in 1995. There is an allegation against him of embezzling a large amount of money from the company. He first established his own company in 2007.
Born in August 1971, Rakib is now the Managing Director of Bangladesh Team Group. The group companies include – Tim Sourcing Ltd., Gramtech Knit Dyeing Finishing & Garment Ind., South & Sweater Company Ltd., Brother Fashion Ltd., Four A Yarn Dyeing Ltd., Tim Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Mars Stitch Ltd., Tin Accessories Ltd:, Twelve Clothing, Pharma IMEX Ltd:, Inteller Ltd:, Team Developers Ltd:.
He was not available by phone for comments.
