The battle between Transcom sisters: What allegations Shahzreh made against CEO Simeen, mother Shahnaz

Shahzreh Huq, the youngest daughter of Bangladesh's Transcom Group Chairman Latifur Rahman, has sued eight Transcom officials, including her elder sister and mother, in three cases filed with the Gulshan police station on Wednesday (21 February). 

Shahzreh's elder sister, Simeen Rahman, is the current Transcom CEO. 

Her mother, Shahnaz Rahman, is the current chairman of the group, and was named in two cases. 

The Business Standard has obtained the documents of all three cases, and the following are some of the allegations made in the cases: 

Misappropriation of money

In the case documents, Shahzreh wrote that her father had around Tk100 crore as fixed deposit receipts (FDRs) in different banks. Her mother, Shahnaz Rahman, was the nominee for the money.

Shahzreh has alleged that the money was supposed to be distributed among the heirs (warish) according to the Muslim Sharia law after Latifur's passing on 1 July 2020.

In the case documents, she claimed that her mother (Shahnaz) transferred all the money to her account after her father's death.

Shahzreh also claims that her mother transferred the ownership of 18% shares of Transcom Electronics to herself on 3 August 2020 by showing that she bought them for Tk60-100 crore. 

She claimed that her sister and mother did it together and, by doing so, had deprived the other two heirs of Latifur of their rights.

In the case documents, Shahzreh claimed her mother Shahnaz did this to make sure that Simeen gets the majority of Transcom shares as her mother gave away all the shares she acquired to Simeen at a later date.

Depriving the heirs of Transcom shares

In another case, Shahzreh claimed her sister, with the help of four other Transcom officials, illegally took ownership of most of the Transcom shares after her father's death by creating three Form 117 (instrument of transfer of shares) and submitting them to Registrar of Joint Stock Companies And Firms (RJSC). 

The case document also says that the plaintiff was informed that she received 4,270 shares, her brother Arshad Waliur Rahman received 4,270 shares, and her elder sister Simeen got 14,160 shares. 

However, the plaintiff claims she never signed the transfer deed (form 117) and nor did her father. 

The plaintiff, Shahzreh Huq, alleges that the accused fabricated these documents.

Forgery of Deed of Settlement

In another case, Shahzreh claimed her mother and sister, with the help of three other Transcom officials, made a Deed of Settlement by forging her and her brother Arshad Waliur Rahman's signature. 

She claimed the Deed of Settlement was later used by Simeen and Shahnaz to take ownership of Transcom shares and fill the positions of Chairman, Managing Director and Group CEO. 

Shahzreh claimed she never had any Deed of Settlement with any of her family members. 

Clauses of penal codes mentioned in 3 cases

The three cases include the following clauses of the Bangladesh Penal Code, 1860: 406, 419, 420, 467, 468, 470, 471.

The 406 clause is a criminal breach of trust with imprisonment of up to three years, a fine, or both. Shahzreh Huq accused both her mother and sister of this. 

She also accused both of them of cheating (419), forgery of valuable security/will (467), forgery for the purpose of cheating (468), forged document (470), and using as genuine a forged document (471).

Clause 468 comes with an imprisonment of up to seven years, and 467 up to ten years with a fine.