A Dhaka court has issued warrant of arrest against five officials of Unilever Bangladesh after the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) submitted an investigation report finding prima facie evidence in the case.

After receiving the CID investigation report, Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Mehdi Hasan on Monday ordered the issuance warrant of arrest against five officials of Unilever Bangladesh on 21 January, 2026.

The investigation report was submitted to the court on January 5 by CID Sub-Inspector Md Tarikul Haque. The report stated that the allegations brought in the case were found to be substantiated.

A bench assistant of the concerned court Shishir Halder said, “The court has taken cognizance of the report and issued warrant of arrest on 21 January, 2026.”

Earlier, on August 7, 2025, Md. Salahuddin Ferdous, the authorised representative of Masud & Brothers, filed a complaint with the court, naming six individuals as accused. After recording the complainant’s statement, the court directed the CID to conduct an investigation and submit a report.

The accused in the case are Unilever Bangladesh; Syed Zikrul Bin Zamir (Cluster Head, Unilever Bangladesh); M. Soaib Kamal (Senior Territory Manager); Kawsar Mahmud Chowdhury (Area Manager); Mohammad Naharul Islam Mollah (Managing Director); and Jinnia Haque (Finance Director).

Lawyer for the complainant, Zahidul Islam Hiron, told The Bangladesh Post that the CID submitted its investigation report after finding the allegations to be true, and the court subsequently issued warrant of arrest against the officials of Unilever Bangladesh.

According to the complaint petition, the complainant company had been marketing Unilever Bangladesh products as a distributor since September 2009. The distribution agreement was last renewed on January 28, 2024.

The complainant alleged that between January 2020 and June 2025, damaged, expired, and defective products supplied by the accused were returned to Unilever Bangladesh. The total value of these goods amounted to Tk 3 crore 75 lakh. Despite repeated demands, the accused allegedly failed to replace the goods or refund the money, using various pretexts.

The complaint further stated that, following the advice and instructions of the accused, the complainant company purchased unnecessary delivery rickshaw vans, resulting in a loss of Tk 1 crore 67 lakh.

It was also alleged that, acting on the instructions of the accused, the complainant supplied goods on credit to various market entities, leaving outstanding receivables amounting to Tk 3 crore 11 thousand.

When the complainant sought recovery of the total claimed loss of Tk 8 crore 53 lakh and assistance in collecting the outstanding credit, the accused allegedly began evading responsibility. The first accused is also accused of demanding a bribe of Tk 70 lakh from the complainant in exchange for facilitating recovery of the outstanding credit.

After overall investigation, examination of witnesses, review of documentary evidence, and questioning of both the complainant and the accused, the investigating officer stated that evidence was found indicating criminal breach of trust, cheating, intimidation, and abetment through collusion. The allegations were found to be prima facie true under Sections 420, 406, 506, and 109 of the Penal Code.

The Bangladesh Post could not obtain comments from Unilever Bangladesh or the other accused regarding the matter.