A post featuring a statement by Gowher Rizvi, the former international affairs advisor to Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, has been circulating on social media.

The post includes a link to PIEPAY.NET, and Gowher Rizvi is heard promoting the subject. The post also shows a minimum investment of BDT 30,500.

View the post shared on Facebook here (archive).

Fact Check

Rumor Scanner’s investigation found that Gowher Rizvi has no association with PIEPAY.NET, nor did he promote PIEPAY.NET. The circulated video was edited from a separate 2019 interview he gave to Turkish media.

Rumor Scanner began by investigating the source of Rizvi’s statement. The circulated video shows the logo of TRT World. Following this clue, a video published by Turkish media outlet TRT World on February 28, 2019, was found on their official YouTube channel. Rizvi’s clothing and background in the video match those in the post.

Nowhere in that February 2019 TRT World interview does Gowher Rizvi mention or promote PIEPAY.NET.

Next, Rumor Scanner looked into PIEPAY.NET. Upon visiting the link, it was found that the site includes a link to a supposed interview with Gowher Rizvi, allegedly conducted by the national English-language daily The Daily Star.

However, no such interview could be found on The Daily Star’s official website.

In the interview hosted on PIEPAY.NET, Rizvi appears to mention a website named SecuroomAi. Upon visiting this site, it was discovered that it is in fact a gambling website.