The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) has imposed a total fine of Tk73.76 lakh on three investors for manipulating the share price of Trust Islami Life Insurance Limited. The penalties were levied on Md Abu Taher Shikder, his wife Umma Salma Nipa, and his brother-in-law SM Shahed Shakil following an investigation into irregular trading activities.

According to an enforcement order issued on October 3, 2026, Abu Taher Shikder was fined Tk63.25 lakh, while Shahed Shakil received a penalty of Tk15.51 lakh and Umma Salma Nipa was fined Tk5 lakh. The regulator found that the trio artificially inflated the stock price by engaging in illegal series trading and circular counterparty transactions.

An inquiry by the Dhaka Stock Exchange into trading patterns between June 1 and August 28, 2025, uncovered that Trust Islami Life’s closing share price surged 131.11%, rising sharply from Tk36 to Tk83.20 in less than three months. BSEC’s probe revealed that Shikder managed several beneficiary owner accounts across multiple brokerage firms, coordinating targeted buy and sell orders that dominated the stock’s market volume and drove prices upward.

The investigation further determined that the individuals executed 46 instances of reciprocal trades involving 172,000 shares, creating an illusion of active trading to manipulate the share price. Through this coordinated scheme, the group realized a capital gain of Tk2.82 crore during the period under scrutiny, alongside holding unrealized gains exceeding Tk5.08 crore.

In their defense, the accused submitted written statements asserting that their investments were based on the insurer’s underlying fundamentals and that the matching orders among them occurred inadvertently due to phone instructions placed through various brokerages. However, the BSEC dismissed these claims, concluding that the violations of the Securities and Exchange Ordinance, 1969, were deliberate and detrimental to market integrity.

The commission has ordered the individuals to pay the fines within 30 days via bank draft or pay order, reinforcing its commitment to maintaining fair and transparent capital markets in Bangladesh.