The High Court on Sunday directed the interim government to submit a comprehensive list of all the immovable assets owned by S Alam Group, its shareholder directors, and their family members.
A vacation bench of Justice Md Kamrul Hossain Mollah and Justice Kazi Zinat Hoque issued the directive directing the law secretary and the inspector general of registration to present the asset details within four weeks.
The order came after hearing a writ petition filed by Supreme Court lawyer Md Rukunuzzaman on September 17.
Additionally, the court issued a rule asking the Bangladesh Bank governor to explain why the central bank should not disclose the loan liabilities of S Alam Group and its key individuals, including company chairman Mohammad Saiful Alam, his wife Farzana Parveen, and their relatives.
The High Court also sought explanations from the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit and Bangladesh Bank as to why steps should not be taken to recover funds allegedly laundered by these individuals.
Moreover, the court questioned the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission about the possible suspension of share transfers by S Alam Group鈥檚 shareholders and directors.
During the hearing, Anti-Corruption Commission lawyer Shaheen Ahmed informed the court that the commission had initiated an inquiry into the reported laundering of vast sums by Saiful Alam and his wife, following an Appellate Division observation in a February 5, 2024 verdict.
The commission had requested the financial intelligence unit to provide relevant documents, including those pertaining to loans, repayments, fixed deposits, and bank accounts, linked to the couple and the company鈥檚 network.
The anti-corruption commission is preparing to request the trial court to freeze the assets of S Alam Group, its chairman Mohammad Saiful Alam, his wife Farzana Parveen, and their family members, once it obtains the necessary documents from financial intelligence unit.
The commission has also planned to seek a travel ban against them.
In addition, the anti-corruption commission has yet to get the details of the passports of Saiful Alam and his family members for which it has requested the Passport and Immigration authorities.
The anti-corruption commission has made these moves following an Appellate Division verdict on February 5 this year by which it overturned a High Court suo moto order from August 2023 that called for an inquiry into offshore investments reportedly totalling Tk 11,000 crore.
In the verdict the Appellate Division, however, noted that the anti-corruption commission and Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit retained the authority to investigate if deemed necessary.
The High Court鈥檚 initial action was prompted by a newspaper report alleging that Saiful Alam and wife Farzana Parveen transferred significant funds to foreign jurisdictions, including Singapore and Cyprus, without approval from the Bangladesh Bank or relevant regulators.
S Alam Group, once controlling eight Sharia-compliant banks鈥攊ncluding Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited, the largest in the country鈥攈as reportedly now lost its grip on these institutions.
The group had gained control of Islami Bank in 2017 through a series of manoeuvres.
The shift in power came following the student-led mass uprising on August 5, which led to the downfall of Sheikh Hasina government.
