Azhari made ‘deepfake’ video and sold medicine, two accused in 3 days remand

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The court remanded the two accused for selling sex-stimulating drugs by creating a ‘deepfake’ video using the name and picture of Islamic speaker Mizanur Rahman Azhari with the help of artificial intelligence (AI). Metropolitan Magistrate of Dhaka today Friday (May 15) in the case filed under Cyber ​​Security Act of Paltan police station. Siddiqui Azad granted their remand.

The two remanded accused are Md. Abdur Rahman Manik alias Rahat (28) and Furkan Mia (22). They were arrested yesterday by Paltan Model Police Station in different areas of Dhaka and Chittagong.

According to the court sources, the investigating officer of the case, Paltan Police Station Deputy Inspector (SI) Samim Hasan produced the accused before the court and applied for a seven-day remand. After the hearing, the court granted a three-day remand.

According to the complaint, the arrested persons were running multiple fake pages on Facebook using AI generated videos and advanced graphic designs using Azhari images. They used to sell alleged ‘sexual aphrodisiac’ drugs through these pages and several e-commerce websites including ‘Ash-Shifa Organic.com’. In fact, they capitalized on Azhari’s popularity and developed a well-coordinated fraud ring.

On February 15 last year, while staying at Popular Diagnostics in Shantinagar, Azhari noticed that several Facebook IDs and websites were circulating fake promotional videos impersonating him. His exact voice and image were inserted in the videos using artificial intelligence, which confused the common man and lured him into buying substandard drugs and products. In fact, these products or campaigns have nothing to do with Azhari or his family.

A General Diary (GD) was conducted at Paltan Model Police Station on February 25 to stop the fake campaign. Apart from this, Azhari also warned his followers from his verified Facebook page. Subsequently, his office assistant Billal Hossain filed this case as a plaintiff on April 23.

According to the police, the accused were committing digital fraud through AI and deepfake technology. This cycle is active nationwide and they used to pay dollars for Facebook ads. Remand interrogation of the defendants is needed to identify more people involved in the manufacture of these aphrodisiac drugs, trace the source of the advertising dollars, confirm the distribution process of the money transactions and arrest other members of the ring.

Earlier on May 5, 10 accused were arrested and produced in the court on the same charge. Among them, two accused were sent to remand for two days. The two remanded are Md. Sarafat Hossain (24) and Md. Shafayet Hossain. The court ordered eight other accused to be sent to jail. The eight accused who went to jail are Shahadat Taufiq (21), Md. Imam Hossain (21), Md. Rafiqul Hasan (21), Minhazur Rahman (19), Tauqi Tajwar Ilham (21), Amid Hasan (21), Md. Abdullah Fahim (21) and Md. Imran (24). In the investigation report, the age of another accused has been mentioned as 21 years but his name is not known.