The Anti-Corruption Commission has identified 72 individuals, including former land minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury and former Padma Bank chairman Chowdhury Nafeez Sarafat, in connection with alleged money laundering and offshore property acquisitions in Dubai of the United Arab Emirates.
The commission identified the names of the 72 Bangladeshis who are among the 459 Bangladeshis linked to the purchase of 972 properties in Dubai under 鈥楪olden Visa鈥� schemes.
A three-member ACC inquiry team led by its deputy director Ram Prasad Mondol is conducting a probe into allegations of amassing illegal wealth and laundering money to different countries and then purchasing the 972 properties in Dubai.
As part of the inquiry, the ACC identified the 72 individuals and on April 16, the inquiry team sent a letter to the National Board of Revenue to provide detailed tax records, including e-TINs and income tax returns of the 72 people.
The commission requested the NBR to take necessary measures for giving the information to the ACC by April 29.
Although the letter refrains from listing official designations or full identities of the persons, the names include several influential businesses, politicians and former ministers.
The ACC officials said that funds were siphoned off to Dubai through Swiss and other foreign banks, and were used to purchase the high-value properties.
About the letter to NBR seeking information regarding the 72 people, ACC director general (prevention) Md Akhtar Hossain said that the inquiry officer could seek any necessary documents from any government agencies for the sake of a proper probe.
He also said that the commission would take its next course of action based on the inquiry report.
The other names on the list are Ahsanul Karim, Anjuman Ara Shahid, Hefzul Bari Mohammad Iqbal, Humaira Selim, Zuran Chandra Bhowmik, Md Rabbi Khan, Md Golam Mostafa, Mohammad Oliur Rahman, SA Khan Ikhtekharuzzaman, Syed Fahim Ahmed, Syed Hasnain, Syed Mahmudul Haque, Syed Ruhul Haque, Golam Mohammad Bhuiyan, Haji Mostafa Bhuiyan, Manoj Kanti Pal, Md Iftekhar Uddin Chowdhury, Md Mahbubul Haque Sarkar, Md Selim Reza, Mohammad Ilias Bazlur Rahman, SU Ahmed, Shehtaz Munshi Khan, AKM Fazlur Rahman, Abu Yusuf Md Abdullah, Gulzar Alam Chowdhury, Hasan Ashiq Taimur Islam, Hasan Reza Mohidul Islam, Khaled Mahmud, M Sajjad Alam, Mohammad Yasin Ali, Mustafa Amir Faisal, Syed Mizan Md Abu Hanif Siddiqui, Sayeda Durrak Sinda Zara, Ahmed Ifzal Chowdhury, Farhana Monem, Farzana Anjum Khan, KH Mashiur Rahman, MA Salam, Md Ali Hossain, Mohammad Imdadul Haque Bhorsa, Mohammad Imran, Mohammad Rohen Kabir, Manzila Morshed, Mohammad Sanaullah Chowdhury, Mohammad Sarful Islam, Syed Rafiqul Alam, Anisuzzaman Chowdhury, Rifat Ali Bhuiyan, Salimul Haque Isa or Hakim Mohammad Isa, Syed AK Anwaruzzaman or Syed Kamruzzaman, Syed Salman Masud, Syed Saimul Haque, Abdul Hai Sarkar, Ahmed Samir Pasha, Fahmida Shabnam Chaiti, Md Abul Kalam, Fatema Begum Kamal, Mohammad Al Ruman Khan, Maynul Haque Siddiqui, Munia Awan, Sadiq Hossain Md Shakil, Abdullah Mamun Maruf, Mohammad Arman Hossain, Mohammad Shawkat Hossain Siddiqui, Mustafa Jamal Naser, Ahmed Imran Chowdhury, Billal Hossain, MA Hashem, Mohammad Main Uddin Chowdhury, and Natasha Noor Mumu.
Earlier, on April 16, 2023, the ACC had sent letter to the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit of the Bangladesh Bank and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs seeking information over the allegations.
On April 10, 2023, a three-member inquiry team was formed to probe the allegations of laundering money by Bangladeshi people to Dubai.
The probe was prompted by a Supreme Court directive issued on January 16, 2023, ordering an inquiry into overseas property acquisitions by Bangladeshi nationals in Dubai.
The property purchase in the Gulf state 鈥� with presumably laundered money 鈥� came to the fore after the Centre for Advanced Defence Studies, a Washington DC-based non-profit organisation, published a working paper in May 2022.
A total of 459 Bangladeshis purchased 972 properties in Dubai worth $315 million without disclosing information, the report said.
There are allegations that people from various professions, including politicians, businesspeople, bureaucrats and police officials laundered abroad a huge amount of money during different tenures of the Awami League government between 2009 and 2023.
The money launderers made their fortunes abroad and purchased properties, established business entities, and invested in second homes in different countries.
After the fall of the autocratic AL government amid a student-led mass uprising on August 5, 2024, the ACC took a fresh move to conduct inquiry into allegations of money laundering and bring back the laundered money.
