Last Solution

It seems that First Solution Money Transfer Ltd are now back up and running.

Apparently, more then  £500,000 has already been paid. I wonder which creditors they were (friends and families, I suspect).

Anyway see the following link for the full story including the relaunch held at the Oldham Millennium Centre.

Money Transfer Company Back in Business

First of all Eid Mubarak to you all. May you all enjoy this blessed day with you nearest and dearest. Thank Allah for all that He has bestowed on us.

Secondly, all of you will be well aware that today is the Creditors Meeting for Dr Fazal “Fraud” Mahmood & Co’s First Solution Money Transfer Ltd. I wonder if today was chosen with the knowledge that most of us will be too busy with Eid and less inclined to go to the Creditors Meeting, I sincerely hope not.

I hope that all of those who have attended the meeting have the best interest of all the Victims at heart.

I would be very interested to hear from anyone who has attended todays Creditor Meeting, as will most of the readers on here. Please let us know. Thanks in advance.

It appears that I have created some confusion and misinterpreted the clever handy work of Dr Fazal “Fraud” Mahmood & Co as the voice of the new owners of First Solution Money Transfer. For that I sincerely apologise to the the Branch Directors and Agents who are the new owners of First Solution Money Transfer Ltd.

I am sure that I am not the only one who has been confused by the Press Statement dated 19th November on E-Bangladesh, which now appears to be the communication from Dr Fraud & Co. I beleive Dr Fraud & Co purposely put that Press Statement on E-Bangladesh to confuse everyone. The author of the Press Statement is rather vague. Once again I apologies to the new owners of First Solution Money Transfer Ltd.

The new owners of First Solution Money Transfer Ltd, headed by Mohammed Abdul Mannan, have released their first Official Press Release refuting claims that they are not the originators of the previous Press Statement. The Official Press Release can be found at the following location;

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE FROM NEW OWNERS OF FIRST SOLUTION MONEY TRANSFER LTD

However some of the questions that were raised after the publication of the Press Statement by Dr Fraud & Co, which was first released on E-Bangladesh still applies to the new owners of First Solution Money Transfer Ltd. 

CAN YOU ANSWER THOSE QUESTIONS PLEASE?

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE: NEW OWNERS OF FIRST SOLUTION MONEY TRANSFER LTD

Date of release: 19 November 2007

People who lost funds in the collapse of First Solution Money Transfer Ltd should get most – if not all - of their cash back, following a rescue deal.

The sudden closure of First Solution Money Transfer Ltd on 28th June 2007 was a major blow to the UK Bangladeshi community which used it to send money to relatives in Bangladesh.

Since then, some of the former agents and branch staff of First Solution, who have been working silently but relentlessly for the last few months on a corporate recovery package to resolve this situation and reach a position whereby all creditors can be paid.

They formed Coastearth Ltd and now, following lengthy negotiations to secure the future of First Solution Money Transfer Ltd, Coastearth is pleased to announce successful conclusion of those negotiations and subsequent completion of the purchase of First Solution and the relevant associated assets.

One of Coastearth’s main intentions in rescuing First Solution is to pay back as much money as possible to people who lost funds, over the next few months. The business will continue to be known as First Solution, although the board and senior management are completely new.

First Solution’s new Chairman, Mohammed Abdul Mannan, said: “There is a tremendous sense of moral responsibility in the Bangladeshi community and we want to do everything possible to protect its reputation.

“We are putting in significant funds straight away to pay back some of the money which was lost. We hope that most – if not all – the money which was lost will be paid back to people from ongoing trading profit of the rescued company, plus other expected contributions.

“What happened to First Solution was a terrible blow to many people. We hope they will see that by rescuing the company, we can restore trust as well as people’s bank balances – and continue to provide a successful and efficient money transfer service. We have also put in place safeguards that should prevent such a catastrophe happening again”

It is hoped that £950,000 to £1.2m will be available to creditors as part of this rescue package. This will be made up of capital investments by the new owners, voluntary commitment from the previous directors and funds realised from sales of assets by the Official Receiver.

The new owners of First Solution Money Transfer Ltd will also put in place the necessary infrastructure, systems and measures to maintain a strong position in the market and prevent any potential risk by being exposed to currency exchange losses.

The previous directors of First Solution, namely – Dr Mahmood, Mr Rumi and Mr Hadi are not part of Coastearth Ltd and will not remain involved with First Solution Money Transfer Ltd and the new setup.

All community leaders, businesses and many creditors who have been helping to find a suitable solution to this unfortunate situation are being requested to continue their support.

Branches who took this initiative are:
Bradford, Bristol, Burnley, Coventry, Drummond Street (London), Edinburgh, Leicester, Loughborough, Manor Park (London), Small Heath and Ashton (Birmingham), Turnpike Lane (London), Luton, Newcastle, Oldham, Portsmouth, Southampton and Walsall.

~ END ~

Press Release Notes:

1. Following the collapse of First Solution a rescue package was considered by the Agents and Branches to save the credibility of the Bangladeshi community and pay the creditors on a voluntarily basis.

2. Funds had been secured from investors and negotiations had been finalised with the Insolvency Practitioner – Panos, Eliades, Franklin and Co. to purchase First Solution – the entire company including its assets and liabilities. However, on the 2 August the 2007, the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform was granted a Court order to wind up the company to protect public interest. The legal position of the company changed with the approval of the petition. The company now had to be purchased from the Official Receiver (“OR”) appointed by the Government’s Insolvency Service.

3. Discussions and negotiations with the OR commenced with the view to purchasing the company as originally intended by Coastearth Ltd. However, the process was very complex and time consuming. As a result, the legal advice was that an alternative solution should be considered.

4. The ‘alternative solution’ was to purchase the company name and identity; good will and associated assets, including the security deposits held by several Banks in Bangladesh for the purpose of trading and drawing arrangement. This would ensure that unnecessary liability is not being taken on board by Coastearth Ltd except to fulfil the commitment to pay the disadvantaged ‘remittance creditors’. This process would be less complex and quicker to implement.

5. The name ‘First Solution Money Transfer’ was transferred and the name changed on 03 October 2007 to enable Coastearth Ltd to conduct discussions with third party.

6. Although the rescue plan changed to a different ‘Corporate Recovery’ vehicle the principle and the commitment of Coastearth remain the same – to pay the creditors and commence trading.

7. As soon as the company rescue plan is implemented it is anticipated that remittance creditors would receive a high proportion of their money as soon as possible. It is anticipated that payments to creditors will be released in several phases to avoid any difficulties and complication and therefore the creditors will receive equivalent to £115,000 immediately after the company commences trading. The remaining balance would be paid thereafter from the capital investments and if required from trading profits.

8. It is hoped that £950,000 to £1.2m will be available to creditors. This will be made up of capital investments, voluntary commitment from the previous directors and sales of assets from assets by the Official Receiver.

9. Please be advised that the previous directors of First Solution Money Transfer Ltd, namely – Dr Mahmood, Mr Rumi and Mr Hadi are not part of Coastearth Ltd and will not remain involved with the new First Solution Money Transfer Ltd and the new setup.

10. The new owners will put in place the necessary infrastructure, systems and measures to maintain a strong position in the market and prevent any potential risk by being exposed to the currency exchange losses.

11. If you need any more information please contact us

I came across this Press Statement from the Branch Directors of First Solution Money Transfer on a website called E-Bangladesh.

It makes quite a interesting read and it claims that the Victims of Dr Fraud & Co’s First Solution Money Transfer Ltd stand to get £955,000.

Have a read and draw your own conclusion, you will need rose tinted glasses!!! The actual content can be found at the following link PRESS STATEMENT.

PRESS STATEMENT: New Owners of First Solution Money Transfer Ltd (Branch Directors)

It gives us a great pleasure to make this statement that after 4 months of tireless effort by a good number of the company’s agents and the former directors of First Solution Money Transfer Ltd. with the support from the Official Receiver’s office in London, a deal has been struck to ensure that the creditors of the company receives as much of their hard earned cash as possible which they have lost due to the unfortunate collapse of First Solution in June 2007.

Although the former directors and shareholders, by virtue of their limited liabilities, do not have any legal obligation to pay the creditors of the company, however, they strongly feel that consistent with their moral, social, religious beliefs and obligations, they will pay up to £500,000 towards the creditors of the company over a period of time, on voluntary basis.

Accordingly, the former directors have made sure that the company’s agents are successful in taking over those assets and goodwill including the brand name to restart trading as First Solution Money Transfer Ltd. and satisfy the creditors.

We want to take this opportunity to thank the vast majority of creditors who have been waiting with patience and extended their sympathy towards us and our families. We want to express our sincere apologies to all the creditors for the inconveniences caused. We also want to re-assure everyone that there have been absolutely no findings of any wrongdoings by the former directors. However, the closure of the company was due to the negative media campaign and false statement made on a Sky TV channel, Bangla TV, which made it impossible to resolve the problems which the company was facing and hence continue trading.

It is also important to inform you that the vicious, inaccurate and prolonged media campaign against the former directors did not help us to act as fast as we had wanted to, in order to help the victims. We are urging those individuals who are using this tragic incident to capitalize their personal interest and gaining political benefits out of this, to stop this immediately.

We wish to thank and congratulate those agents who have been working day and night to put together a rescue deal to help the creditors and we will be there to help them in every possible way, should they need us.

Finally, we extend our sincere appreciation to the Official Receiver acting in this matter for putting together a sensible and practical deal to help those creditors who have been affected by this unfortunate incident. We, the former directors, will be working very closely with them to help recover all other funds owed to the company.

How the customers of First Solution Money Transfer Ltd. expect to get their money back?

1. Voluntary contribution from the former directors of the company, contractually bound with the official receiver, £300,000.

2. Further voluntary contribution from the former directors, £200,000.

3. Proceeds from the selling of company’s name to the new owners, former agents, £30,000.

4. Company’s bonds and deposits held at Bangladeshi banks, £60,000.

5. To be realized from company’s debtors, £250,000.

6. New owners to make an initial contribution towards the creditors, £115,000.

Approximate total funds to be realized to pay the creditors, £955,000.

How and from where the creditors will get the remaining shortfall?

Since the former directors and the new owners of First Solution maintaining that out of their moral, social and religious obligations they wish to see all the creditors get their money back, and as such they have been working tirelessly for the last 3-4 months to find a way out, and if need be are expressing that they are ready to dispose off their personal assets to meet this objective. Hence, after the above amounts are paid out, whatever the shortfall is, it is the sincere intention of the new owners of First Solution to see all the creditors gets their money back, and in this regard, the former directors wish to reassure of their full cooperation.

The much awaited official statement from the Official Receiver, Paul Titherington, has now been published regarding Dr Fazal “Fraud” Mahmood & Co’s First Solution Money Transfer Ltd.

The full extensive statement can be read at the following location The Insolvency Service.

Only time will tell how much of a refund we the Victims of Dr Fraud & Co’s First Solution Money Transfer will get. However it was reassuring to read that although the voluntary agreements with Dr Fraud & Co as well as the Branch Directors has been agreed it does not “prevent a Liquidator from bringing any future legal action, should that be appropriate”.

It was also even more reassuring to hear that the Official Receiver is duty bound “investigate the cause of the Company’s failure” and to “report any evidence of criminality to an appropriate prosecuting body”.

Since we the Vicitms are only being garuanteed a paltry 25% of our original lost money over the next 2 years, it is of paramount importance that root cuase of the failure is found out and a full explanation is given to us as to how Dr Fraud & Co managed to make £1.7m of people’s hard earned money vanish overnight.

THE SEARCH FOR THE TRUTH HAS JUST BEGONE! OR IS THIS A LOST CAUSE FROM THE START!

It seems that the “end” is almost near for the 2000 or so Victims of Dr Fazal “Fraud” Mahmood & Co’s First Solution Money Transfer Ltd.

No closer are we to the root cause of the scandal that caused severe outrage and hardships to the Bangladeshi Community in the UK over the summer but it seems that the Branch Directors have finally struck a “DEAL”.

It is believed that the Branch Directors, who have been in negotiations with the Official Receivers since the start of the saga, have signed a “DEAL” which would see a total of ONLY £445,000 being refunded to the Victims over a period of two years. This only represents 25% of the reported £1.7m that Dr Fraud & Co are accused of siphoning into their own coffers.

The £445,000 that is being refunded to the Victims consists of £30,000 which the Branch Directors paid for buying some of the assets, including the name First Solution. (There are rumours that the Branch Directors had to pay double that amount for the privilege to buy these assets.) The Branch Directors will also make a voluntary contribution to the Victims of UPTO £115,000. Also, our well loved friends Dr Fraud & Co will also make a contribution of £300,000 to the Victims over a period of two years, which is legally binding. Apparently, Dr Fraud & Co have the intention to pay a further £200,000 with no time limit or legal agreement.

However, Mr G R RUMI was on the BBC Money Box program today where again he repeated it was Directors “social, moral & religious obligation” to repay every single penny back to the Victims “pound for pound”. Dr Fraud & Co claim they can not afford to repay the whole of the £1.7m at the current moment. The Bangladeshi Community in the UK and Bangladesh will find these claims laughable, we know what kind of wealth Dr Fraud & Co are sitting on top of!!!

The new owners of First Solution have also made it their “social, moral and religious” obligation to pay back every single penny from future cash injections and profits from the resurrected First Solution Money Transfer Ltd.

I anticipate that the Branch Directors will be issuing out a press release imminently to chronicle what they have done so far for the Bangladeshi Community and what they hope to do in the future for the Victims that Dr Fraud & Co’s First Solution Money Transfer Ltd scandal had created. The Branch Directors might have made the pheonix rise from the ashes but whether they can keep the pheonix flying remains to be seen.

All is not lost just yet, the Official Receiver Paul Titherington told both the BBC Money Box program and the East London Advertiser that should the High Courts accept the Winding Up Petition on 21st November 2007, then some of the other assets that have not been sold to the Branch Directors may be realised and added to the fund to repay the Victims. He also said that the CIB are still investigating the collapse of Dr Fraud & Co’s First Solution Money Transfer Ltd and should the High Court hearing agree to the Winding Up Petition next week then the Official Receivers will also look into any wrongdoing by our dear freinds Dr Fraud & Co and establish “the cause of failure”. I simply can not wait!!!

The postponed Winding Up Petition will be heared in the High Courts on 21st November 2007. A creditors meeting is also scheduled to happen on 19th December 2007 and all registered creditors/Victims should receive notices of the creditors meeting no later then 26th November 2007.

The First Solution Creditors Group is planning to hold a mass protest outside the High Courts when the Winding Up Petition is heard in the High Courts next week.

As of yet, no information has been released as to how the Victims will be getting 25% of their money back but I’m sure this information will be coming out soon.

See the links for the BBC Money Box Article and also to listen to the Money Box Program (its is the second item in the program). Also there is the link to the East London Advetiser Article that poster “TJ” refered to in his post.

WE THE VICTIMS STILL WAIT IN HOPE.

It was good to see that the BBC program Money Box still has Dr Fazal “Fraud” Mahmood & Co’s First Solution Money Transfer Ltd on its radar.

They did a peice on the “failed” winding up petition that was supposed to happen on 7th November 2007 but got postponed until 21st November 2007. Apparently the court hearing on 7th November 2007 was over in 3 minutes.

The reason being the court papers did not have the new company name ”XTL Limited“. So Dr Fraud & Co’s First Solution Money Transfer Ltd is now going to be known as this name. Why noone knows????

See the following link for the BBC Article, also click on the following link to hear the actual Money Box Program. The peice on Dr Fraud & Co’s First Solution Money Transfer Ltd is in the middle so please keep listening to it, it is definately more informative the any of the official and unofficial bodies have been.

There might be “some light” at the end of the tunnel, the Official Receivers, Paul Titherington, has told the Money Box program that he hopes to make an announcement this week as to how much assets Dr Fraud & Co’s First Solution Money Transfer Ltd has left over and whether we the Victims stand to get anything. We still wait to see if our dear Branch Directors will carry out their ”social, moral & relegious” obligation.

TIME WILL TELL.

I’m getting whiff of some bad air and it smells “rotten”, read the extract below taken from the Insolvency Services website.

“The first hearing of the winding up petition took place on 7 November 2007. This hearing was adjourned until 21 November 2007 to allow for the change of the company’s name to be advertised.

This change of the company’s name is part of the process of the agreement that the provisional liquidator has been negotiating and which is not yet complete.”

See the following link Insolvency Service link.

First Solution Money Transfer Ltd, the money transfer service created by the now infamous community fraudsters. Need I mention their names!

I think its over 5 months now since Dr Fazal “Fraud” Mahmood & Co closed their money transfer “enterprise” and abscounded with the money from Bengali Communities around the UK that was destined for the disadvantaged in Bangladesh. Dr Fraud & Co have been givng various vague “reasons” for the the money disappearing and not arriving at their destination in Bangladesh. However, all the various “reasons” given by Dr Fraud provided very little explanation to the Victims of this audacious fraud, who have been enduring huge financial and emotional suffering for 5 months now. Well, all this might change in a couple of days after the Petition to wind up Dr Fraud & Co’s First Solution Money Transfer is heard in the High Courts on 7th November 2007.

Ever since this fiasco erupted back in June 2007, there have been various individuals and organisations who jumped into the limelight claiming to help the thousands of Victims of this scandal created by Dr Fraud & Co. Where are they now, 5 months done the line. NOWHERE IN SIGHT.

GEORGE GALLOWAY MP, he was one of the main activist of siding with the Victims of First Solution Money Transfer Ltd and promised to help every single one of the Victims of the fraud. He did raise the plight of the Victims to the Government in the form of a Westminster Debate. BUT where is he now becuase all the Victims are yet to receive a single penny of their hard earned money.

FIRST SOLUTION CREDITORS GROUP, this is supposed to be the official consumer group set up to help the Victims of Dr Fraud & Co’s First Solution Money Transfer Ltd. It has the colourful Ajmal Hussain as its spoke person. They put pressure on the Minister Stephen Timms and were influencial in getting the Official Receivers appointed as the Provisonal Liquidators as opposed to Panos, Eliades, Franklin & Co. BUT again where is the FSCG and its colourful motormouth now. There are romours that Mr Ajmal Hussian himself has set up a money transfer service recently, which cast doubts over this suitability as the spokes person for FSCG, a consumer group set up to help fight in the corner of the Victims of money transfer fraud.

OFFICIAL RECEIVERS, many people were overjoyed when the Official Receivers were appointed as the liquidators instead of Panos, Eliades Franklin & Co. But ever since they took over there has been very little information coming out on the situation. All they would comment on was that they were working with the CIB, BERR and SFO and that was all. They also would only confirm they are in negotiation with the Branch Directors, who were hoping to revive Dr Fraud & Co’s First Solution Money Transfer Ltd. We have not heard anything since. I wait to “hear” what they have to say in Court on 7th November 2007.

BERR, CIB, POLICE & SFO. They are investigating and we Victims are not privy to in updates from them.

BRANCH DIRECTORS, they have apparently been trying to revive First Solution Money Transfer Ltd ever since it was put in the hands of the intial liquidators Panos Eliades Franklin & Co. Apparently they were close to signing a deal to revive First Solution Money Transfer Ltd from Panos Eliades Franklin & Co before Minister Stephen Timms put a stop to that and appointed the Official Receivers. It is understood that they are now still in negotiation with the Official Receivers to try and resurrect Dr Fraud & Co’s First Solution Money Transfer Ltd and they will make it their religious and social obligation to pay back all the creditors. Don’t forget a similar promises was made by the Dr Fraud & Co and we the Victims are still waiting.

I have been getting contradictory information with regards to the Branch Directors proposal to pay back all the Victims. What worried me is at one point I heard every single Victim will get the money back, then I heard some of the victims will get the money back and now I hear that some of the Victims will get their money back straight after Dr Fraud & Co’s First Solution Money Transfer Ltd get revived and some of the Victims will get their money back after a while. This is all very vague and it does not amount to much of a concrete proposal in terms of ALL THE VICTIMS getting their money back sooner rather then later.

EAST LONDON ADVERTISER ARTICLE

I was also under the impression that Dr Fraud & Co were initially proposing to pay the Branch Directors 500,000 towards paying the Victims back but in the recent article it eludes to the fact that Dr Fraud & Co will only be contributing half of that initial 500,000. I wonder why???? 24 Hour Police Protection and Luxuries Hotel Rooms are not cheap in London, I am lead to beleive.

Baroness Uddin & Sir William Beveridge Foundation……….need I say more on this!!!! Complete waste of time and hope killer.

Anyway, the long awaited court date of 7th November 2007 for the Petition to Wind Up Dr Fraud & Co’s First Solution Money Transfer Ltd to be heard in from of the Judge in the High Courts, is around the corner and I am waiting in “anticipation” to find out what it will reveal for us Victims who are still nursing the wounds of being injured by Dr Fraud & Co’s First Solution Money Transfer Ltd. I would urge everyone to attend the Courts that day and at least see that “innocent” faces of the perpertrators of the Bangladeshi Community Scandal.

IT SADDENS ME TO SAY THIS BUT WE THE VICTIMS WILL BE EXACTLY IN THE SAME POSITION WE WERE IN JUNE 2007, WHEN DR FRAUD & CO’S FIRST SOLUTION MONEY TRANSFER LTD INITIALLY SHUT THEIR DOORS IN OUR FACE. BATTERED AND BRUISED WITH NOTHING TO SHOW FOR IT BUT YELLOW SLIPS.

It has been a while since I updated this blog, its not because that I have given up on getting my money back from Dr Fazal “Fraud” Mahmood & Co’s First Solution Money Transfer Ltd but because there is an absolute lack of information. Everyone is keeping quite.

Anyway, some of yo might have heard of the trouble that has developed up north in Oldham, where a certain Monor Money Transfer UK has been going through a similar failure as First Solution Money Transfer Ltd.

See the following link for more information MONOR MONEY TRANSFER UK

With regards to Dr Fraud, I hear that he and his family are residing in a plush hotel in West London, with 24 hour Police protection being provided at the expense of taxpayers. Hotel location to be confirmed very soon and published on here.

WATCH THIS SPACE

Also, there have been some people who have got their money back. Don’t get too excited, its not from Dr Fraud & Co nor is it from Baroness Uddin’s brainchild Sir William Beveridge Foundation but some other small charity. Only a handful of Victims got some of there money back. I hear it was a maximum of £200.

WE LIVE IN HOPE.

Not much of any significant importance to report on Dr Fazal “FRAUD” Mahmood & Co’s First Solution Money Transfer this week.

I notice that the Official Receivers seem to have “broken their silence” on First Solution and updated thier webpage with a sentence of already known and meaningless information. In their eyes I suppose it is quite “significant”!!!

“The Official Receiver is currently in negotiations with interested parties, further information will be made available once the negotiations are concluded.”

Check the following link for more information OFFICIAL RECEIVERS

I was under the impression that the negotiations had been concluded, it seems not!!! 

Also, I’m still hoping someone might be able to provide me with some historical data of the Taka rate that Dr Fraud & Co’s First Solution Money Transfer Ltd was giving.

Please email me with details: admin@last-solution.co.uk

Does anyone have a record of the taka rate the Dr Fazal “Fraud” Mahmood & Co’s First Solution Money Transfer Ltd were offering customers before they collapsed.

I would greatly appreciate if anyone could provide me with the historical taka rate that they were offering from January 2007 to June 2007.

Please email me with the details;

admin@last-solution.co.uk

Thank you all for your help and support

I discovered some “new” information in the last few days and I haven’t yet been able to digest all of it yet. It definately adds a new twist to the suffering and losses caused by Dr Fazal ”Fraud” Mahmood & Co’s First Solution Money Transfer Ltd , in my honest opinion. I could well be wrong and misunderstanding the situation, maybe somebody can put me right.

The appointment of the Official Receivers as provisional liqudators was greatly welcomed by everyone, especially the Victims of this tragedy. But not many understood the full implications of the Official Receivers being appointed, including myself. The sole purpose of the Official Receivers is to establish and protect any assets that Dr Fraud & Co’s company has or might have had, nothing more. At this stage they will not be investigating the business activities of First Solution nor will the be investigating the business practices of the Directors of First Solution.

The Official Receivers will only carry out a full investigation into Dr Fraud & Co and their business activies if the Petition to Wind up First Solution Money Transfer Ltd is accepted by the Royal Courts of Justice. This is still scheduled to be held on 7th November 2007.

The Official Receivers will also not be required to investigate Dr Fraud & Co if the Rescue Deal that is being proposed by the Branch Directors goes ahead. By the way the Official Receivers have a say in whether this Rescue Deal should go ahead and the Royal Courts of Justice will have to agree to the Official Receivers recommendation.

So lets examine this Rescue Deal that is being proposed by the Branch Directors. I have been told that the original Rescue Deal that was being proposed by the Branch Directors has had to go through several iteration and moderation to get to this current stage. The current scheme involves the Branch Directors only buying the assets of Dr Fraud & Co’s First Solution Money Transfer but not the liabilities. The liabilities is what we the Victims are owed which stands at approximately £2m and not the assests which is rumoured to stand at approximately £400k. What this also means is that the resurrected First Solution Money Transfer Ltd will have no legal obligation to pay the Victims as they will have only purchased the assets from the Official Receivers. However, I have been assured that the Branch Directors will consider it their moral and religious obligation to pay the Victims back but nothing can be legally binding.

So is this what us Creditors/Victims really wanted? Will we really get our money back?

Now here is what I am trying to digest and maybe I am wrong to think this;

What if in the grand scheme of things Dr Fraud & Co persuaded the Branch Directors to initiate and implement this Rescue Deal. This would mean that Dr Fraud & Co’s business activities would not get investigated by the Official Receivers and on top of all that they would be without blame and will not have to explain why they “FAILED TO DELIVER” our hard earned money. Then Dr Fraud & Co would be ready to come out from their hiding places and openly declare that they did nothing wrong and out of their social, religious and moral responsibilities they will try to pay us Victims back and that could be over a long period of time.

I HOPE THAT I AM UTTERLY NAIVE IN THINKING THE ABOVE.

What also worries me is that on Monday I was told by one of the Branch Directors that their latest proposal to the Official Receivers has be accepted and it would be going to the Royal Courts of Justice that day for the official seal of approval. However, within the last couple of days I have heard that the Official Receivers and the Branch Directors are still trying to strike a deal. This contradictory information really worries me!!!

MAYBE I WAS WRONG IN THINKING THAT THIS RESCUE DEAL WAS GOOD FOR THE VICTIMS.

Wel also know that the Companies Investigation Branch (CIB) are still conducting their investigation or so I hope. But the CIB, like the Official Receivers are being very tight lipped with any updates for the Victims. Lets hope they have the powers to scrutunise the accounts and activities of Dr Fraud & Co’s First Solution Money Transfer fully regardless of the outcome of the Rescue Deal by the Branch Directors.

I suggest that every single one of the Victims highlight their concerns in writing to the Stephen Timms, the CIB and the Official Receivers. I will be doing that today and please can all of you do the same. We need them to know that we will not stand still and watch our money go that easily. Below are the contact details that you should write to;

Stephen Timms - Stephen@stephentimmsmp.org.uk

Official Receivers - piu.or@insolvency.gsi.gov.uk or Matthew.Stone@insolvency.gsi.gov.uk

CIB - vetting.section@berr.gsi.gov.uk

Please spare a few minutes and write to them and help highlight our concerns.

We the Victims do not want to rely on certain individuals social, moral and religious responsibilities to get our hard earned money back, remember that is how we ended up being fodder to Dr Fraud & Co’s First Solution in the first place.

The Branch Directors should not really have anything to loose if First Solution Money Transfer was wound up, it would cost them far less to start an alternative to First Solution Money Transfer Ltd as opposed to rescuing First Solution Money Transfer Ltd from the Official Receivers.

MY RANT IS OVER FOR NOW UNTIL NEXT TIME

What exactly is the latest updates on Dr Fazal “Fraud” Mahmood & Co’s First Solution Money Transfer Ltd?

That is the question on the lips of the thousands of Victims of this scandal but suprisingly they do not know who to ask this question to. Even if they do they are being fobbed off with vague answers, some even refuse to answer.

During the last few weeks there has been very little being communicated by any of the parties involved. The last time I updated this blog was during the tail end of August, when the Branch Directors issued their Press Release.

The BBC radio program Money Box picked up on the story last week. See the following link for more information Money Box. Also click on the Money Box icon and you should be able to listen to the program itself.

Official Receivers

The appointment of the Official Receivers was greatly welcomed by everyone because it was seen as though they will act in the best interest of the Victims and not the “failed to deliver” Directors. But since they have taken over the provisional liquidations of Dr Fraud & Co’s First Solution Money Transfer Ltd there seems to be very little information coming out from them to the Victims. I have personally tried to contact them a few times to just get confirmation of them receiving my claims and as of yet I have not heard from them. They have not yet revealed whether they have concluded their forensic investigation of First Solutions accounts and whether they have been able to ascertain the actual amount of the “failed to deliver” loss.

Mr George Galloway & Respect Party

Mr Galloway and his Respect Party have been spearheading the campaign to get the Victims their money back right from the start. They made a lot of noise and did highlighted the plight of the thousands of victims to the mass media in the UK. Mr Galloway even managed to get the scandal highlighted in the House of Commons through the Westminster Hall Debates. However, as of late we do not seem to hear anything from Mr Galloway or his Respect Party with regards to First Solution Money Transfer.

Mr Galloway have you forgotten about us?

Mr Ajmol Hussain & First Solution Creditors Group

The First Solution Creditors Group was set up immediately after the collapse of First Solution and their objective is to help all the Victims get their money back. They have been asking people to register their losses with them so they can jointly try and seek to get the Victims their money back. They might have played their part in getting the Official Receivers appointed but apart from that there has been no communication with regards to what they are doing to help the Victims thus far.

Mr Ajmol Hussain, a well known local businessmen in the community, is the official spokesman for First Solution Creditors Group. I spoke to him earlier today and he tells me that all the Victims will get their money back, apparently we need to wait until 7th November 2007. I asked him what he meant by that and he tells me that Dr Fraud & Co have been told by the local authorities that if they do not pay the Victims by that date then “they will get nicked”. I’m not trully sure what he meant by that becuase I hope he is not confusing the provisonal court date for the winding up petition which is due to be held that day. Mr Ajmol tells me that he has had almost 900 people registered with First Solution Creditors Group with a total loss of 1.3 million pounds.

Action Committee To Get People Their Money Back

This action group was also set up to hep the victims get their money back but unfortunately I’m not really sure what they have been doing.

Directors of First Solution Branches & Agents

A group of First Solution Branches have got together after the collapse of First Solution Money Transfer Ltd and are trying to mastermind the revival of the company that Dr Fraud & Co run to the ground. They have been in constand negotiation with the failed directors and the Official Receivers and are trying to find a way to repay all the Victims as well as resurrect the potentially lucrative First Solution Money Transfer Ltd. They are quite adamant that if First Solution Money Transfer Ltd does come back from the ashes as a result of them, then they will fulfill their moral & religious obligation and repay every single one of the victims. How they will raise the potential 1.7 millions pound that is owed by the Victims remains to be seen.

It is beleived that they might be closer to acheiving their goal and there should be a press conference held soon to announce the exact Rescue Deal that they have to offer the Victims.

Baroness Uddin & Sir William Beveridge Foundation Charity

Baroness Uddin got such great recognition for helping set this charity up, which was supposed to pay the Victims of First Solution Money Transfer Ltd. However, very little was acheived by this charity. Firstly, the Victims did not want their hard earned money paid back in the form of charity donations. Secondly, the charity did not carry out any sort of fund raising to raise any money. It was annouched last week that this charity that was created to help the Victims of the failed First Solution Money Transfer Ltd had itself failed and was subsequently closing. So much for the praise and hard work of our favourite Baroness, Baroness Uddin.

All in all it is great to hear that people are using this blog as their source of information on First Solution Money Transfer Ltd. I have not given up on getting my hard earned money back and I will not give up that easily. I urge other like me to still keep the pressure on.

Don’t Give Up Hope and I’ll let you know as soon as I get any new information.

Below is the press release from the Directors of First Solution Branches on their Rescue Deal for Dr Fazal “Fraud” Mahmood & Co’s First Solution Money Transfer Ltd.
 

PRESS RELEASE
 

The sudden closure of First Solution Money Transfer Ltd on 28th June 2007 has raised severe concerns and has had adverse reactions within all sections of the Bangladeshi community.
 

Since then, the Directors of First Solution Branches, who acted as the collection point for First Solution Money Transfer Ltd, out of their moral and social obligations, have been working silently but relentlessly for the last 8 weeks on a corporate recovery package to resolve this situation and reach a position whereby all creditors can be paid.
 

The hard work is now nearing the end of the lengthy legal process of attempting to secure the future of First Solution Money Transfer Ltd.  Following many weeks of negotiations with the Official Receiver, The Secretary of State and the existing shareholders of the Company, namely Dr Mahmood, Mr Rumi and Mr Hadi, an agreement has been secured which is pending the Court’s approval of the proposed corporate recovery. 
 

Prior to this, an agreement had already been reached with the previous insolvency practitioners – Panos, Eliades, Franklin & Co. and contracts were to be exchanged, however, the appointment of the Official Receiver on 2nd of August 2007 changed the legal position of the company and therefore the exchange could not be completed.
 

It is anticipated that a Court hearing date will be obtained on Thursday or Friday next week by our legal representatives which is encouraging as upon approval from the Court the parties can then attend to the business of processing customer’s claims and agreeing arrangements with them in this respect.
 

It is expected that the recovery will be announced immediately after the outcome of the hearing through a press conference stating the details of how and when the creditors will get their remittances processed again.
 

Some funds have already been raised from investors who have evaluated investment opportunity in the company. Further investment is being encouraged from potential investors and other Branch Directors and Agent who have not yet joined recovery to come forward considering the victims and of course the unique investment opportunity in a multi-million pound company.
 

All community leaders and businesses that have been making positive contributions in finding a suitable solution to this unfortunate situation are also being requested to support this initiative.
 

Branches who took this initiative are:
Aston (Birmingham), Small Heath (Birmingham), Bradford, Bristol, Burnley, Coventry, Edinburgh, Hyde, Leicester, Loughborough, Kings Cross (London), Drummond Street (London), Manor Park (London), Turnpike Lane (London), Luton, Newcastle, Oldham, Portsmouth, Southampton, St. Albans and Walsall and Others
Potential investor, Branch Directors and Agents are requested to contact 0844 884 8774 for further details.

I’ve stopped counting how many weeks it has been since Dr Fazal ‘Fraud’ & Co’s First Solution Money Transfer Ltd collapsed leaving behind thousands of Victims in the Bangladesh Community throughout the UK.

With each passing week the hopes of getting my lost £2.5k seem to be diminishing very quickly or so I thought. However, a comment that regular poster AngryMan made on here has made me think and given me some hope. What if I, the creditor of First Solution Money Transfer Ltd, was to turn my potential loss of £2.5k into Investment by joining forces with the Branch Directors who are trying to revive the failed company and repay the Creditors.

Everybody knows that there has been very little update in the media with regards to the First Solution fiasco but I have been told by reliable sources that the Branch Directors are working very hard in the background to get their plan approved by the Treasury and the Official Receivers. It is anticipated that by the end of next week we should know for certain whether their plan gets the thumbs up from the UK authorities.

Like I said before First Solution Money Transfer Ltd was a very profitable company and had the potential to go beyond the £87m turnover that it did before it was run to the ground by Dr Fraud & Co. If the Branch Directors plans gets approved and First Solution is revived and it is run and managed effeciently then it will have the power and potential to become a multi million pound Company. I would imagine that any potential investors at this early stage will stand to make a hugh return on their investment. Well, that is my own interpretation and porjection, I could well be very wrong!!!!

What does that mean for the Branch Director’s Rescue Deal? Well for one they won’t have to worry about giving me my £2.5k back. They could possibly use this money elsewhere. What if a lot of the other Creditors of First Solution Money Transfer Ltd were interested in turning their losses into Investment, just like me? Well the Branch Directors again would not have to worry about repaying a lot of the Creditors and using that pot of money to grow the business further.

Any plan like this will most definately be the first of its kind, I’m sure. It will be the first time when Creditors of a failled Company help in its revival by becoming Investors. The Bangldeshi Community who lost such hugh amounts at the hand of Dr Fraud & Co could possibly stand to make a hugh gain.

But please bear in mind, this plan could well legitimise the fraud that the Victims/Creditors have suffered at the hands of Dr Fraud & Co. The Creditors turned Investors could possibly lose their money AGAIN if the revived company was not able to sustain itself and get run to the ground AGAIN.

However, if the Rescue Deal plan was approved by the UK authorities then I would not have such concerns. I’m pretty sure that the Treasury, Official Receivers and the High Court will scrutunise the Rescue Deal and if they find any holes they will not hesitate in rejecting the Rescue Deal and sending Dr Fraud & Co’s First Solution Money Transfer into the history books.

Are the Branch Directors listening to us Creditors?

Do other Creditors like me agree with me?

Below are some updates from the Action Committe To Get People Their Money Back with regards to what they are doing to try and help the Victims of Dr Fazal “Fraud” Mahmood & Co’s First Solution Money Transfer Ltd. I personally don’t understand their strategy and have found communicating with them does take a lot of energy and patience. They also now have a website which can be found at the following location: http://actioncommitteeukbangladeshis.wordpress.com 

ACTION COMMITTEE TO GET THE PEOPLE THEIR MONEY BACK 

The gist of the first complaint from ourselves against Bangla TV is as follows: As we [ACTION COMMITTEE TO GET THE PEOPLE THEIR MONEY BACK] have pointed out before, a number of individuals got on TV and other media making promises that they were doing something tangible and that the people would get their money back from the perpetrators who acted by using the name ‘First Solution’. The victims have been low-income, mainly expatriate Bangladeshis in the UK . The ‘publicity’ has been mainly given to divert attention away from the shoulders of the perpetrators, the individuals who took the money and who controlled the taking and misappropriating of the cash. 

Inaccurate, incompetent, misleading, false information broadcast in  some of the ‘news’ items and then perpetuated in the editions of ‘Friday Plus’ that the broadcast apparently dedicated to the examination and reporting of the loss of the cash handed by UK Bangladeshis for transfer to their relatives, families and friends and colleagues in Bangladesh. The contents, the thrust and the priority given in the particular items as broadcast on Bangla TV have aided the perpetrators who stole and or misappropriated the money belong to the people who handed the money to the perpetrators who had been operating under the name ‘First Solution’ from their main address as then based at the ‘London Muslim Centre’ Whitechapel Road, London E1 

“OFCOM is asked to investigate complaints against satellite TV outlets 

22.08.2007 13:01 The ‘First Solution’ perpetrators who robbed the UK Bangladeshis, most of whom gave money that involved making personal sacrifices on basic needs, are getting away with it. Serious evidence exists that the so-called media have contribute to the shielding of the perpetrators. 

The ‘First Solution’ perpetrators who robbed the UK Bangladeshis, most of whom gave money that involved making personal sacrifices on basic needs, are getting away with it. Serious evidence exists that the so-called media have contributed to the shielding of the perpetrators. The UK Bangladeshis ACTION COMMITTEE TO GET THE PEOPLE THEIR MONEY BACK is today asking the TV regulator OFCOM to investigate complaints against a satellite TV station that broadcasts mainly via Sky. 

The UK Bangladeshis ACTION COMMITTEE TO GET THE PEOPLE THEIR MONEY BACK is today asking the TV regulator OFCOM to investigate complaints against a satellite TV station that broadcasts mainly via Sky. The ACTION COMMITTEE TO GET THE PEOPLE THEIR MONEY BACK is also asking OFCOM to investigate separate complaints against the BBC. 

The full texts will be published by the ACTION COMMITTEE once the service of the complaints has been acknowledged by OFCOM. ACTION COMMITTEE TO GET THE PEOPLE THEIR MONEY BACK 

e-mail: act4cashback@yahoo.co.uk 

‘First Solution’ - Action Update on role of Bangladesh High Commission London 21.08.2007 00:56 

We contacted Mr Ashraf Uddin on the mobile telephone that he had given us on 6 August 2007 when he spoke to the Action Committee in his capacity as the Acting High Commissioner. We spoke to him on two separate occasions on 7 August [the details of which we have already posted]. 

We wanted to ask him questions about those two conversations. We sent him messages. 

We again tried during the day Monday 20 August 2007 and were informed that he was not available.  We are now preparing a series of questions for the new High Commissioner for Bangladesh in London and we shall publish the texts during Tuesday 21 August 2007 UK Bangadeshis’ Action Committee to Get the People their money back: 2350 GMT
 e-mail: act4cashback@yahoo.co.uk 

It is approaching nearly 2 months since Dr Fazal “Fraud” Mahmood & Co’s First Solution Money Transfer Ltd closed its doors leaving behind thousands of Vicitims and approximately £1.7m of unpaid remittance destined for the needy in Bangladesh. I am one of those Victims and it does not seem that we are any nearer to receiving our money back at all, if anything.  There was a lot of noise from all walks of life in the Bangladeshi community from established business figures as well as vast media coverage but recently all of this seems to have gone quite in the last couple of weeks. It seems as though the Victims are loosing their fight to claim their money back. Numerous promises of “everyone will get their money back” from the failed Directors have still not materialised.  However, all is not lost just yet. The agents of First Solution Money Transfer, who Dr Fraud & Co claimed were partly responsible for the company collapsing, have been working hard in the background for the last few weeks to try and come up with a solution to help the Victims who stand to loose vast sums of money. 

Why would the agents who got partly blamed for the failure of First Solution Money Transfer Ltd want to help the Victims get their money back?  Several reasons; 

First Solution Money Transfer Ltd was a very profitable company and had huge potential to grow further. It grew from having a turnover of £4m in 2005 to £87m in 2007. So one can only imagine how much further it could have gone had it not been run to the ground by Dr Fraud & Co. The agents recognise that potential and as business minded people they want to seize that opportunity.  The agents were scattered around all of the UK, mainly located in areas of high concentration of Bangladeshi Community. Most of the agents are established business figures in their own right, in their own community. They were using First Solution Money Transfer Ltd as a vehicle to serve their own small community. The agents know that they have been blamed for the failure and they want to prove their innocence. A lot of the agents have made personal pledges to reimburse their individual customers and they want to fulfil their pledge as they feel obliged on social and moral grounds. They want to honour their commitment to serve the community. Something which Dr Fraud, Mr Rumi and Mr Hadi have so far failed to show any evidence of. 

The Agents also want to help restore confidence in the Bangladeshi Community and Bangladeshi Businesses. The Agents feels as though it is their duty to prevent First Solution Money Transfer Ltd being tagged in history as a bad example of major Bangladeshi business failures in the UK.  The Agents do not want the Bangladeshi people to rely on charity to get what is rightfully theirs and be classed as “international beggers”. Sir William Beveridge is of no use to us. I believe in this quite strongly, I worked hard to earn that money and I do not want charity in return. 

The above are a few of the main reasons for the agents getting together and trying to resurrect First Solution Money Transfer Ltd. It is a profitable business to revive and it will also repay the Victims who have lost out at the hands of Dr Fraud & Co’s First Solution Money Transfer Ltd. It will also restore confidence in Bangladeshi community.  However, let’s look at the alternative from the point of the Victims. 

The Official Receivers are now appointed as the liquidators of the failed First Solution Money Transfer Ltd. Their interest lies in protecting any assets that First Solution might have had and then repaying the Creditor/Victims.  I am led to believe that Dr Fraud & Co’s First Solution Money Transfer Ltd did have some assets that the Official Receivers might be able recover but I doubt it is in the region of £1.7m. So I suspect that the Victims would stand to receive very little of what they handed over to First Solution Money Transfer Ltd. I would probably get £200 or so from the £2500 that I handed over to First Solution Money Transfer Ltd in May 2007. 

From my point of view, as a Victim of First Solution Money Transfer Ltd, I would definitely prefer the whole of my money being refunded or remitted. This is something that I believe would only be possible if the Rescue Deal being proposed by the Branch Directors is accepted by the Official Receivers.  We as Victims of Dr Fraud & Co’s First Solution Money Transfer Ltd need to voice to the Government what we want and provide these Branch Directors with our support. 

The Branch Directors could easily set up an alternative company and fill the void left behind by First Solution Money Transfer Ltd without repaying a single penny to the Victims but they have the best interest of the Bangladeshi Community at heart, especially the Victims.  The Branch Directors can be contacted on the following number and email; 

Tel: 0844 884 8774  email: firstsolution.recovery@yahoo.co.uk 

According to the ACTION COMMITTEE TO GET PEOPLE THEIR MONEY BACK it seems that the Bangladesh High Commission in London is not doing anything to help the Victims of Dr Fazal “Fraud” Mahmood & Co’s First Solution Money Transfer.  The interim Government in Bangladesh had promised from the onset of this fiasco that it would do all it can to help the Victims of the collapsed First Solution, even though the ultimate jurisdiction lies with the UK authority as First Solution was a UK based company.  Please see below an update made by the ACTION COMMITTEE TO GET PEOPLE THEIR MONEY BACK. 

ACTION COMMITTEE TO GET PEOPLE THEIR MONEY BACK   “The UK Bangladeshis who have been robbed of their money by a group of perpetrators operating under the front ‘First Solution’ that had been based near the East London Mosque in Whitechapel Road London E1, had been promised help by the current, care-taker regime in Bangladesh. To date, the victims have not received any help if it is defined by their having received the money back. 

Why?  Is the current care-taker administration in Dhaka, the capital city in Bangladesh, being fully informed by their UK diplomatic mission based in London? Or are there other players and factors involved?  The ACTION COMMITTEE TO GET THE PEOPLE THEIR MONEY BACK has learnt this week that several members of the UK Bangladeshi community, who have been trying to get the perpetrators to return the money to the people, have encountered significant obstruction of communication when dealing with certain ‘designated’ employees in the Bangladesh High Commission in London. 

One such UK Bangladeshi, who is also a member of the management committee of the Bangladesh Centre based in Notting Hill, West London, has given this Acton committee details of the obstructions being caused by the particular officials. We are collecting the rest of the information which will be posted here during this [Friday 17 August 2007] afternoon.” 

Lee & Allen are the forensic accounting experts that have been appointed by the Official Receivers to scrutunise the affairs of the Dr Fazal “Fraud” & Co’s First Solution Money Transfer Ltd collapsing.

Lee & Allen is the largest specialist firm of Chartered Accountants in the financial dispute resolution services sector in Europe. Lee & Allen’s core practice is concentrated in providing expert evidence in connection with the quantum of loss arising from significant corporate disputes, the investigation of large scale corporate fraud and the provision of expert accounting evidence.

Lee & Allen generally act for the governments investigatory bodies to investigate cases of fraud. They have a history of using the latest investigation techniques to uncover and solve the most complex cases of fraud. Lee & Allen make use of detailed link analysis, asset tracing and investigative skills to identify the perpetrators of convoluted frauds and the whereabouts of recoverable assets.  In their past experience they have been able to make significant recoveries where they have been able to identify fraudulent practices.

I very much doubt that Panos Eliades Franklin & Co would have gone to this level of detail, hence I am sure Dr Fraud & Co are getting very worried.

If Lee & Allen’s reputation is anything to go by then surely we should expect the truth to prevail and answers to why Dr Fraud and Co “failed to deliver” the large sums of money.

“I am sure that we will all want to thank Baroness Uddin for her role in setting up the support fund…” 

Below is an extract from some comments from First Solution Branch Directors.

We would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to those who have already expressed their appreciation. 

We know there are many other people who feel likewise but have not yet expressed it. 

We, the branches are attempting this very bold step for the sake of our community. All of us are businessmen and we have calculated our risk. 

We just need the Governments Official Receivers to see what we see, to feel what we feel. 

However we do not wish to make this a publicity stunt, as most agents are very trustworthy people with in their own communities and publicity stunts will not earn them anymore respect than they all ready have.

Everyone, please correct me if I am wrong but I was under the impression that the Serious Fraud Squad (SFO) were investigating Dr Fraud aka Dr Fazal Mahmoods & Co’s First Solution Money Transfer Ltd.  

We’ll I wrote to the SFO recently asking if they could provide me with any updates as I am a creditor of First Solution.  The response I got back from the SFO seems to suggest that they are not investigating it at this stage. 

The SFO directed me to Tower Hamlets Trading Standard Team. However, Tower Hamlets Trading Standard are insisting all creditors contact the Official Receivers directly. 

Below is the email I sent to the SFO and also the response I got back from the SFO. 

Have I misread the response? 

—–Original Message—–
From: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: 15 August 2007 12:51
To: Public Enquiries SFO
Subject: First Solution Money Transfer 

Hi 

I understand that you are investigating First Solution Money Transfer
Ltd based at the London Muslim centre, Whitechapel, London E1, which
closed its doors to customers end of June 2007. 

I’m a creditor of that company and I wanted to know if you are in any
position to provide an update. 

I would greatly appreciate your help and please let me know if I can
help in any way. 

Regards
–
xxxxxxxxxx 

——————————————— Reply—————- 

Good afternoon 

I understand Tower Hamlets Trading Standards team are looking into this,
details of which are available c/o this link 

Tower Hamlets Trading Standards 

There is no further information I can give you at this stage, but should
the position change I will forward your contact details to colleagues at
the SFO who may contact you. 

Kind regards 

Jina Roe
Press & Publicity Officer
Serious Fraud Office
+44 (0)20 7239 7000
mobile +44 (0)7776 160 985
e-mail: jina.roe@sfo.gsi.gov.uk
www.sfo.gov.uk 

The Action Committee was set up during the first fortnight of July 2007 after they saw evidence that the ’secondary fraudsters’ had come in to the scene and were trying their bits to sabotage the community in getting the people their money back.

The Action Committe is sponsored by CBRUK (Committee for Bangladeshis’ Rights in the UK). All the costs of setting up, research, monitoring, communication and campaigns for the Action Committee have been covered by the sponsors CBRUK. 

CBRUK is totally financially self-supporting and independent of ALL known party political groupings in the UK and anywhere else. CBRUK has been opposing and is opposed to public funding of voluntary activities like this campaign [’The Action Committee…’ re ‘First Solution’]. 

CBRUK was established on the last weekend of July in 1989 to defend the 40 or so Bangladeshis [mainly young adults under the age of 25] who had been arrested in Bethnal Green Road after a protest demonstration [march from Altab Ali Park to Bethnal Green, where the police station was then sited] held on 15 July 1989 demanding justice for Esmoth Ali [and his relative Watir Ali].

CBRUK is chaired by Muhammad Haque who is also the ”honorary convenor” of this Action Committee.

Below is an update that the Action Committee To Get People Their Money Back have posted recently.

A lot of ‘news’ items has appeared and most of those who have been given paucity as ‘leaders’ of the ‘rescue’ attempts have turned out to have been involved in directly or indirectly aiding the perpetrators!Because the ’secondary fraudsters’ whom THIS ACTION CMMITTEE diagnosed at the start of July 2007, have done what they would do if given the scope. The ‘local’ East London Advertiser has given the perpetrators coverage that the crooks could not dream of getting. And they have got what they wanted. They have got away so far. Read on…The ACTION COMMITTEE strategy has been to try to keep everyone claiming to be active or concerned about helping the people whose money has been lost via “First Solution” to keep the focus only on the duty of the perpetrators to immediately return the money and to lawfully and constitutionally force them to do the decent thing and to pay up.In this task, we have come across evidence that a planned diversion has been going on thus enabling the perpetrators to get away. We summarise here the key incidents that show how the operators have been aided in getting away so far:- 

1. The office and the facilities that are constitutionally available via a ‘local’ MP have been diverted in key particulars AWAY from the onus of the perpetrators and into the territories of career-building or careerist grandstanding. Over the top almost addictive attention has been given to internal goings on between rival Bangaldeshi-controlled satellite TV channels. Unjustified and contradictory advances have been made or supported towards creating or backing links with present UK Government. Repeated attempts at getting information about where the documents belong to the people who have lost money are, have been met with total silence from those who used their association with George Galloway to get those documents - and the documentary evidence of the actual handing over of the money as well as the receipts of the handing over - from the people. 

2. Whereas the ‘local MP’ G Galloway personally stated that a wide action committee should be set up and devoted to the return of the peoples’ money – Galloway said this in his first statement made on the subject on the first Sunday of July 2007 outside Galloway’s ‘political group’ address at 9 Club Row, london E2 – certain elements claiming to be working for the same objective and from facilities that exist in the name of the constituency MP, have engaged in taking the attention AWAY from the very crooks who owe the money to the people they robbed. 

3. One very noticeable such diversion has been the concentration given in the ‘coverage’ [or the cover-up] by the ‘East London Advertiser’ which has misled the public about the activities that have taken place on the matter. In particular the ‘East London Advertiser’ has aided the self-seekers to an extent that in a recent ‘report’ it gave almost full page space prompting a bunch of bogus faces that had NOT lost money and had not done anything credible or genuine or selfless to get the people their money back. ALL the particular faces belonged to shady, corrupt or unreliable individuals that had been seeking publicity for themselves as part of their careers, their personal profiteering enterprises or their status within the Blairing environment of the Gordon Brown administration in the UK or within the still very Blaired and the very corrupt Blaired party [the former Labour Party] across the East End of London. The event staged at the Tower Hamlets Blaired Council controlled Brady Centre was held to facilitate another stunt to enable a current minister Stephen Timms to collect some brownie points, rather than to enable the people - also known by the ‘East London Advertiser’ as the creditors – to get their money back. Indeed most of those who lost their money and being referred to by the ‘East London Advertiser’ as ‘creditors’ were NOT even invited to the stunt staged at the Brady Centre. The faces in the main belonged to many dubious individuals and NOT to people who had lost money via ‘First Solution’. Indeed, the headline to that promotional piece that appeared in the ‘East London Advertiser’ is the subject of a formal compliant to the ‘Press Complaints Commission’ that the ‘Action Committee to Get the People their Money Back’ is lodging. 

4. In another set of pieces, the ‘East London Advertiser’ printed a hint that a Gordon Brown minister had become an ‘admirer’ of ‘George Galloway’. The ‘newspaper’ did not refer to any fact or to any credibly made or proposed or suggested liaison that could possibly justify such a sub-sleazy diversionary reference. The ‘East London Advertiser’ did not print any fact showing any evidence of any action that anyone it was promoting had done that fell outside their call of duty. Especially in relation to keeping the community’s pressure on the perpetrators. 

5. All the items published in the ‘East London Advertiser’ during the past six weeks [six editions of weekly printed title] and those promoted on the publishers’ [’Archant’] web site, have been and were promoting the diversionary line and creating the impression that the UK Government was DOING the necessary things and that it was doing the right things. Despite being presented with evidence from the start, beginning with the communication from the convenor of the action committee who had spoken to the ‘East London Advertiser’ about the ‘First Solution’ scandal in June 2007, that the money would NOT be recovered without the UK Bangaldeshi community being united to act as the central force to put the moral and the community pressure on the Perptrators, the ‘East London Advertiser’ has persisted in omitting that central fact and factor and has focused on heaping praise on George Galloway’s ‘staff’ and office and on Galloway himself for bringing attention on the matter. As if a ‘local’ MP speaking up – to highly CMPIANT octane TV crews and pliant newspaper crews- on matter involving such a large number of people who had been misinformed to come to the East End [an aspect that the ACTION COMITEE is about to publish a statement about [separately] – was doing anyone any favours other than to their own claim to be ‘doing their job’ as the MP! 

6. The ACTION COMMITTEE TO GET THE PEOPE THEIR MONEY BACK is currently investigating another factor – and allegation – that the ‘East London Advertiser’ has failed to intestate information that one of four identified perpetrators has been aided by or been in secret talks either directly with a sitting Tower Hamlets Councillor or with a number of their close associate and de facto partner to make a deal whereby the perpetrator is given an excuse and be shown to have been in the clear contrary to the facts and the evidence. 

7. The ACTION COMMITTEE TO GET THE PEOPE THEIR MONEY BACK has found new confirmation that the overly promoted William Beveridge Foundation-linked claim that they would be paying money to the people who have been robbed via ‘First Solution’ has been a con in itself and that there has been no money that can be even mentioned as being paid by the William Beveridge Foundation.  

8. The ACTION COMMITTEE TO GET THE PEOPE THEIR MONEY BACK has also established that the ‘East London Advertiser’ has in effect admitted that it was wrong to promote the ‘farefax-type’ diversion as anything like the relief for the robbed people at all. But that admission by the ‘East London Advertiser’ has been couched a typically dishonest and sneaky sentence that was buried in arranged or onger piece that had the opposite message and impression to what that admission would suggest. In the larger and onger piece in which the de facto admission of ‘error’ was buried was still continuing to promote the perpetrators and their shoulders who were being painted by the ‘East London Advertiser’ as ‘the rescuers’. There is NO EVIDENCE that ANY rescue by those promoted by the ‘East London Advertiser’ [a] has happened, or [b] is happening or [c] will happen in the foreseeable future. We here refer to and use the word ‘rescue’ in the sense of then people getting their money back in full and NOW. 

9. The “ACTION COMMITTEE TO GET THE PEOPLE THEIR MONEY BACK” is in possession of information which shows that one of the very highly promoted ‘rescuer leaders’ that has been praised in or promoted to the skies by the ‘East London Advertiser’ has been themselves the subject of an investigation over misconduct and suspected theft or misappropriation a few years ago, a fact which was generally conveyed to the ‘East London Advertiser’ which was asked to investigate the claim but the newspaper refused to investigate the claims. the ‘East London Advertiser’ continued to praise the same individual and painted the individual as being far more influential in ‘solving’ the ‘First Solution’ misconduct than the facts support. The ACTION COMMITTEE TO GET THE PEOPE THEIR MONEY BACK has also uncovered evidence that serious allegations of misconduct to do with misappropriation of funds belonging to a de facto charitable organisation had been made against the same person over a decade earlier and that the allegations had only been dropped because of the party political opportunism inside the then Labour Party in the East End which was using the same individual as a tool to gain votes. The ‘East London Advertiser’ has failed to investigate those allegations, deciding instead to paint the individual as being a selfless ‘rescuer’! The people who have been robbed via “First Solution’ are not feeing rescued at all. With each day passing, they are feeing farther apart from their money than they were before. And this is an achievement of the perpetrators who have so far. 

10. The ACTION COMMITTEE TO GET THE PEOPE THEIR MONEY BACK had announced pans for a weekend demonstration opposite the ‘London Muslim Centre’ [that was to be held at 2 PM on Sunday 5 August 2007]. Three days before the panned demonstration, the management committee in control of the ‘London Muslim Centre’ issued a statement clearly denying any inks with the “First Solution’ wrongdoing on their part in so far as they had allowed their premises to be rented by those who controlled the ‘First Solution’. That statement meant that the ACTION COMMITTEE TO GET THE PEOPE THEIR MONEY BACK called off the demonstration for the time being and accordingly and informed all concerned MONEY BACK the fact and the reason for the calling off of that demonstration. 

11. The East London Advertiser has on the records of its promotion of the secondary fraudsters and the secondary career makers, behaved as disgracefully as the original perpetrators in that it has aided the criminal behaviour of creating a wall of diversion way from the demand and the needs of the people who have lost their money. 

12. The ACTION COMMITTEE TO GET THE PEOPE THEIR MONEY BACK has taken legal and constitutional steps to keep the focus and the legal pressure firmly upon the original perpetrators. We are also putting the necessary auditing pressure on the secondary perpetrators and are moving to make the behaviour of the ‘East London Advertiser’ the subject of two investigations s. First we are comparing to the PCC and then we shall refer the behaviour of the title t the CRE and also to the National Union of Journalists.

It seems quite ironic that since the Official Receivers took over as the liquidators of Dr Fraud aka Dr Fazal Mahmood & Co’s First Solution Money Transfer that there has been little to no information coming out on the situation.

The Official Receivers being appointed and Panos Eliades Franklin & Co being sacked caused the Rescue Deal being proposed by a collective group of First Solution Branch Directors and a “mystery investor” being halted. It is beleived that the “mystery investors” pulled out of the deal because of the Official Receivers being appointed, otherwise a deal would have been signed, sealed and hander over to this group on the evening of Friday 3rd August 2007.

However, all is not lost as the the group of First Solution Branch Directors have found other investor interested in repatriating the Victims of Dr Fraud and Co with their lost money. Time will tell if anything materialises from this while the Victims wait in hope for some good news.

The First Solution Creditors Group have been busy rallying with Government officials, which resulted in the Government stepping in and sacking Panos Eliades Franklin and Co and the Official Receivers being appointed. However, there has been doubts being cast over the spokesperson of First Solution Creditors Group, Mr Azmal Hussain. The rumours seem to suggest that Mr Azmal himself has had a very colourful past from his days in Sweden. However, from the victims point of view Mr Hussain seems to be one of a handfull of established figures in the Bangladeshi business community actively doing anything to help the victims of First Solution. They have also been in constant contact with the Official Receivers and highlighting the concerns of the Victims to the Official Receivers.

There has been no news coming from the Official Receivers but as soon as I have any information I will pass it on.

Last week was also a week without Friday Plus on Bangla TV. I’m not sure of the exact reason but Bangla TV were showing a fund raising program for the victims of the flooding in Bangladesh in its place.

There has also been another group that has set itself up called “Action Committee To Get People Their Money Money Back”. The main force behind them is CBRUK Legal. I don’t have any information on them yet! I have only recently discovered them and it seems that they are also campaigning very hard to get the Victims their money back and also highlighting shady characters trying use this unfortunate incident for their own personal gain. I will let you know of any updates they report.

There has also been a lot of talks with regards to the charity that was set up to help the victims, Sir William Beveridge Foundation. It is beleived that at this stage all they have done is collected information from the creditors and nothing more. It is also beleived that they have no or very little funds available at this stage and any attempts to build up the fund is non existent.

This is all I have for now. Any further information I get I will keep you updated.

WATCH THIS SPACE

Apologies for not updating this blog for the last few days but I have been really busy with a family wedding happening tomorrow. 

Anyway, I received this in my inbox, it’s a Press Release from the Directors of First Solution Branches. I have not been able to verify its authenticity yet but publishing it for your information. This might be what poster Hope was referring to. 

PRESS RELEASE: Directors of First Solution Branches 

Since the sudden closure of First Solution Money Transfer Ltd. on 28th June 2007 followed by strong media coverage, there have been severe concerns and adverse reactions within all sections n the Bangladeshi community. 

The Directors of First Solution Branches who acted as the collection point for First Solution Money Transfer Ltd. are actively involved with their local community and hold respectable positions. Therefore, all the branch directors got together, consulted with various community leaders and came to a consensus that a solution must be found to resolve this situation, stand beside the victims and restore the confidence of people. 

In this respect a suitable rescue package of First Solution Money Transfer Ltd. is being considered and legal professionals have been appointed to identify the barriers and its remedy. It is expected that a plan will be announced very shortly through a press conference stating the details of how and when the creditors will get their remittances processed again. 

We, the Branch Directors, out of our moral and social obligations have been working relentlessly for the last 5 weeks and already raised some fund. We are constantly working towards raising more funds and have been engaged in discussions with various investors who have evaluated investment opportunity in the company and are also seeking potential investors. By the grace of Almighty, we shall be successful in our efforts and ensure that that all creditors receive their payment and restore the confidence of people in the money transfer industry. We are