Japanese company Nippon Air Conditioning Service Company Limited is preparing to withdraw its investment from Bangladesh following a prolonged legal battle stemming from alleged fraud by a local agent and former employee. Its Bangladesh-based subsidiary, NACSBD Dot Limited, was reportedly deceived by Khorshed Alam, the individual it had appointed as managing director.
Nippon first began operations in Bangladesh in 2015. Soon after, Khorshed allegedly used his authority to register company-owned flats and vehicles in his own name and extracted large sums of money by falsely promising to purchase land in the Araihazar Economic Zone for factory construction.
Upon discovering these acts, Nippon terminated Khorshed’s employment and filed a fraud and forgery case against him in Dhaka (Case No. 613/2022). The Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) later confirmed Khorshed’s involvement, submitting a final report that identified him as responsible for the fraud. However, the matter remains unresolved in court.
Kaori Funhasi, a director from the parent company, made several visits to Bangladesh to attend legal proceedings but left the country on April 21 after seeing no progress.
In a separate dispute, Nippon’s subsidiary paid BDT 16 million to Amin Landscape for office space, which has not been handed over in five years. The current managing director, Arif Hossain Bhuiyan, alleges that Khorshed is now colluding with Amin Landscape owners, Md. Helaluddin and AKM Shamsuddin, to misappropriate that money as well.
Nippon has filed another case (CR 104/2025) against the developers. Despite court-issued arrest warrants, the accused remain at large, and law enforcement has not taken action.
Contacted for comment, Khorshed Alam claimed ownership of the company and denied wrongdoing, but terminated the call after verbally abusing the reporter and has since remained unreachable.
With no resolution in sight, Nippon is now actively considering pulling its multimillion-dollar investment from Bangladesh, raising red flags about the country’s protection of foreign investors.
Bd-pratidin English/ Jisan
