Kathmandu. Information of 55,000 officers and employees of FarEast Islamic Life Insurance Company has been leaked. The company sent this information to a company called Subline. However, it has been claimed that there is no such company.
After the change in the board of directors of the company last year, the company came to know that the information had been leaked. The company’s current executives have filed a lawsuit against the company’s former CHIEF Executive Officer (CEO) Appel Mahmood and three others. The accused, Appel Mahmood himself, is currently working as a member of the Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA), the regulatory body of the insurance sector. The other two accused are Mohammad Lokman Farooq, officer-in-charge of FarEast Life’s information technology (IT) department, and Mohammad Usman Ghani, assistant vice president. Other unidentified accused have also been mentioned in the case statement.
Law officer Mohammad Jasim Uddin had filed a case under sections 19, 21 and 22 of the Cyber Security Ordinance, 2025 at shahbagh police station on August 4.
Mohammad Fakhrul Islam, the current chairman of Forest Life, told Prothon Alo (Bengali magazine), “The case has been filed on the decision of the company’s current board. The accused had smuggled information to a company called Subline. We suspect that they may have sold this information to domestic and foreign companies as well. ’
When asked about the reason for filing the case after so many days, Fakhrul Islam said, “We were able to catch them after many days. After searching the Joint Stock Company and the Firm Directorate, we found that there was no company named Subline. So it can be assumed that it is a fake company. ’
On September 1, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Bangladesh (BSEC) removed the board of directors of FarEast Islami Life and appointed 10 new independent directors. Mohammad Rahmat Ullah, dean of dhaka university’s faculty of law, was made the president. Mohammad Rafiqul Islam, a teacher in dhaka university’s banking and insurance department, and Mozammel Haque, editor-in-chief and managing director of private television Ektor TV, were retained on the board.
Subsequently, on February 10, 2022, BSEC appointed Mozammel Haque and Rafiqul Islam to the board of directors of the company and appointed a new board. In addition, two of Bexim’s group companies, Trade Next International and Jupiter Business, have been appointed to the board. Sheikh Mamun Khalid, former director general of the Directorate General of Defence Intelligence (DGFI), joined as the nominated representative of a company of Bexim’s group.
Other members of the board included Lafifa Jamal, provost at Shamsunnahar Hall, Dhaka University and a teacher in the Department of Robotics and Mechatronics Engineering, former BSEC Commissioner Arif Khan, former Cultural Secretary Ibrahim Hussain Khan and other members. Sheikh Kabir Hussain, who is said to be the uncle of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, was appointed as the chairman of the company.
The allegations of information leakage took place during Kabir Hussain’s tenure. Hussain resigned from the company on August 14, 2024, citing illness. Others also resigned at the same time.
According to the statement of the case, the accused infiltrated the database of the company’s headquarters and provided all the confidential information of 55,086 officers and employees to a company called Subline. This information includes national identity card, bank account, wallet number, salary and allowances, employee identification number etc. Providing information threatens the lives and property of far-east life’s officers and employees.
However, the statement described Appel Mahmood as the company’s former CEO. However, it does not mention that he is currently a member of the Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA). Appel Mahmood was appointed a member of IDRA on December 2, 2024.
“From 10 am to 6 pm on May 27, 2024, they illegally entered the company’s computer and collected personal information of 55,086 officers and employees to send them to the subline. The accused had sent this information to domestic and foreign organizations other than Subline.
IDRA member Appel Mahmood told Prothom Allo over the phone, “Subline was informed by the then board of directors’ decision to expand FarEast Life’s business. ’
