A total of 429 companies are taking various benefits from the government despite not having garment factories or tax identification numbers (TINs), competent sources said.
The non-existence of the companies came to fore when questions were raised against them ahead of the upcoming elections of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).
The BGMEA elections are scheduled to be held on March 9, 2024.
The election appeal board has already removed the names of 67 factories from the voter list.
The board published the primary voter list on January 18. But the tax payment information of 429 persons in the voter list was not available on the National Board of Revenue (NBR) website.
An objection letter with a list containing the names and TINs of the voters was served to the Chairman of the election appeal board of the organization.
Application was also made to the election tribunal of FBCCI (Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry), to exclude the names of the remaining fake factories from the voter list.
The FBCCI arbitration tribunal issued a notification on January 31 for hearing on the fake voters, but the respondents are yet to appear. A letter was sent to the secretary general of the arbitration tribunal on February 5. But there was no hearing in this regard even after eight days of filing the complaint. The complainant was not also informed about whether any action would be taken in this regard, the sources said.
According to the rules, there should be a hearing within seven days of filing a complaint.
As Abdul Matlub Ahmed, Chairman of the arbitration tribunal, is out of the country, the tribunal secretariat was asked to review the matter.
Some RMG exporters said the sector is getting a bad name because of the fake factory owners. They get involved in various types of fraudulent activities by creating fake documents.
BGMEA on various occasions provides documents including user declaration documents in favor of these institutions. These fake factory owners enjoy various benefits by identifying themselves as members of BGMEA.
