620 apartments, 191 acres of land, 28 houses, 23 vehicles of graft suspects seized
The Anti-Corruption Commission seized movable and immovable assets worth around Tk 18,607 crore from corruption suspects in the past seven months between August 2024 and February this year.
The assets including lands, gold, deposited money, shares of different companies, and other valuable items were seized following 109 orders from different special judges鈥� courts across the country.
The ACC, after the fall of the AL regime on August 5, 2024, began massive drives against corruption, particularly against former AL lawmakers, ministers, and pro-AL business figures who allegedly engaged in different types of corruption during the past 15 years of the AL鈥檚 authoritarian rule.
ACC public prosecutor Mir Ahmed Ali Salam said that the graft suspects were barred from transferring or selling their seized assets until resolving the cases against them.
According to the officials of the ACC鈥檚 asset management unit, movable assets worth Tk 18,607 crore of graft suspects were seized at home and abroad in the past seven months.
The assets include Tk 817.14 crore in 1,030 bank accounts, nine savings certificates worth Tk 1.48 crore, shares worth Tk 8,713 crore, and foreign currencies such as 169,300 dollars (Tk 2.04 crore) and 55,000 euros (Tk 69.95 lakh).
In addition, 660.3 grams of gold and Tk 9.16 crore in nine Beneficiary Owner accounts were also seized in the period, the officials said.
The ACC also seized a significant number of assets abroad, including $713,940 and 鈧�28.69 lakh, following orders from different courts.
Besides, the Dhaka Metropolitan Special Senior Judge鈥檚 Court on February 23 ordered the seizure of Tk 8,133 crore owned by S Alam Group chairman Mohammad Saiful Alam and his family members, who are being investigated for laundering around $1 billion abroad.
Besides, graft suspects鈥� properties worth Tk 885 crore were seized after 55 orders issued by the courts between August 5, 2024 and February 20.
The seizure included a wide variety of properties, such as 191.80 acres of land worth Tk 690.8 crore, 28 homes worth Tk 44.03 crore,聽 38 apartments worth Tk 17.35 crore, and 23 vehicles worth Tk 2.93 crore.
Besides, the commission also confiscated 582 apartments or commercial spaces and seized $8,88,474 from 23 companies, and 鈧�8,62,048 abroad in the past seven months, according to the ACC data.
ACC officials said that the surge in asset seizures is a part of the ACC鈥檚 broader efforts to probe corruption and money laundering and bring corrupt people to book.