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Labour Party lawmaker Phil Brickell has asked British regulators to investigate if UK companies have followed anti-money laundering rules while helping former Bangladesh state-minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury with property deals.  

The regulators are HM Revenue and Customs, the Financial Conduct Authority and the Solicitors Regulation Authority, according to a report published by a British daily on October 22.

Brickell, also a member of on the all-party parliamentary group on anti-corruption, called on the three regulators in letters seen by the daily.

Saifuzzaman’s UK real estate portfolio includes more than 250 properties worth about £200m.

Chowdhury has had his bank accounts frozen and is being investigated by Dhaka authorities, amid allegations of corruption against multiple members of the government of Sheikh Hasina was ousted after her regime’s violent suppression of student protests.

Brickell urged the HMRC, the FCA and the SRA to ensure that British estate agents, law firms and lenders had abided by their regulatory obligations.

‘Showing that the UK is serious about making London the anti-corruption capital of the world requires proactive, swift and robust investigation where allegations of these kinds emerge,’ he said.

Members of the APPG on anti-corruption and responsible tax met past week to discuss

how to assist Bangladesh in tracking UK assets linked to people under investigation by Dhaka authorities. The chair of the group, Joe Powell, has written to the National Crime Agency urging it to investigate assets in the UK linked to members of the former Bangladeshi regime, including Saifuzzaman.

The role of western companies that work with politically connected overseas business figures has come under increasing scrutiny in recent years, particularly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Brickell wants regulators to check whether UK firms filed ‘suspicious activity reports’, which they must submit to law enforcement if they are concerned about

potential money laundering, and whether they may have committed a criminal offence if they failed to do so.

The Bangladesh Bank has frozen bank accounts belonging to Saifuzzaman and family, while the country’s Anti-Corruption Commission is investigating allegations

that he illegally acquired hundreds of millions of dollars and laundered it in the UK.

Dhaka asked the UK to identify the source of funds for £150m of Chowdhury’s property purchases, which include several luxury London mansions.

A spokesperson for the SRA said, ‘We take the issue of potential breaches of money-laundering regulations very seriously and will take action if we find firms are not meeting these obligations.’