Bangladeshi youth Foysal, who has become penniless, could not avoid the hands of fraud in the Diversity Visa lottery even after coming to the United States. What has become a vicious cycle of deceit is threatening both him here in the US and his family in Bangladesh. Despite risking his life, Foysal went to Bangladesh on September 13, making sure to demand security from the Bangladeshi government for himself and for his family.
It is believed that thousands of Bangladeshis like Foysal are being robbed of all their belongings at the hands of swindlers. Those who want to come to the United States either by winning the Diversity Visa (DV) lottery or by any other means end up as prey to these scammers.
Narrating his cinematic-style story, Foysal Ahamed, who hailed from Habiganj District (located near Dhaka, the Bangladeshi capital), said a person named Biddut called him from Dhaka on June 13, 2007, and informed him that he had won the DV lottery. Foysal could not believe it but Biddut convinced him it was true. Foysal filled out the DV lottery form and information about his documentation was sent to the DV Processing Center.
Along with his cousin Fazle Tuhin, Foysal went to the Ibrahim Mansion on Purana Paltan in Dhaka. Biddut Kumar gave him the copy of the first letter of his DV lottery and asked him to fill out a form as soon as possible. Biddut first assured him that he would not charge anything for this part of the processing, but that after obtaining the visa, he could voluntarily give some money—however much he wanted to give. Foysal wanted to know the amount but Biddut would not tell him. Foysal filled out the form as per their directions and turned it in to them. After a month and a half, he received another phone call in which they said that his second letter had arrived. Foysal rushed to their office. Again he asked about the payment, but the scammer did not say anything about the amount that Foysal would have to pay upon receiving the visa.
Foysal was interviewed on December 12, 2007 at the US Embassy in Dhaka, and the visa was issued on March 13, 2008. The moment Foysal emerged with his visa, three people stopped him outside the embassy and took it away. They told him to go to their office. Foysal went there with his father and found Biddut and seven or eight other people already there waiting.
Knowing that the Foysals wanted to get the visa back, they demanded one million Taka (US$14,705), saying that they would otherwise not return it. Foysal negotiated with them that he would pay Tk 600,000 (US$8,830), of which Tk 300,000 would be paid in cash; for the remaining Tk 300,000, he would give eight blank checks, which would be paid later. After that, Foysal was given the visa but he came to the USA with a huge amount of debt on his hands. However, after arriving, Biddut's gangsters started threatening him and his father over the telephone to pay the rest of the money. Later, for the last time, Rupan and Kabir of the "Biddut Gang" called him on September 25 and 26 from a phone in Bangladesh. Foysal told them that he was in hard times so he could not pay the money but the hoodlums would not listen.
Foysal said, in the beginning, it was difficult for him to survive in the USA. He could not send any money to Bangladesh. Later, a McDonald's manager, a Bangladeshi by the name of Anwar Mahmud, gave him a job in Staten Island on November 28. Foysal said that he could pay off the loan, but the Biddut gang was still after him. Foysal married before he came to America and now all of his family members are spending their days in fear. Foysal said that thousands of DV lottery winners are being swindled by the gangsters of Biddut in Bangladesh.
Foysal said he filled out the form in a cyber café, from where he got the address of the Ibrahim Mansion in Dhaka. This vicious cycle, originating in cyber cafés all over the country, has released a wide net of fraud, in the process, deceiving thousands of people and cheating DV winners out of US$7000 to US$15,000.
