Cases involving Hasina, Saifuzzaman, 9 business groups on priority list
The interim government has launched a road map for recovering stolen assets linked to 11 priority cases involving ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, former land minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury and nine business groups.
The government led by Professor Muhammad Yunus aims to complete at least half of the cases through legal processes by the end of this year.
A high-level meeting chaired by the chief adviser at his official residence in the capital Dhaka on March 10 chalked up key measures, including appointing international firms to seize assets laundered overseas and seeking sanctions from the United Kingdom, the United States and the United Nations to block the sale or transfer of illicit funds.
The move is aimed at investigating business conglomerates 鈥� Summit Group, Beximco Group, Bashundhara Group, S Alam Group, Orion Group, Gemcon Group, Nabil Group, NASSA Group and Sikder Group 鈥� alongside Sheikh Hasina, who fled to India after the ouster of her authoritarian regime on August 5, 2024, by a mass uprising, former land minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury and their families, according to Anti-Corruption Commission officials.
A joint investigation team comprising officials from the ACC, the Criminal Investigation Department, the National Board of Revenue鈥檚 Central Intelligence Cell and the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate are working on the 11 cases.
Bangladesh Bank officials at the March 10 meeting said that an estimated $75 billion to $100 billion had been stolen through corruption and irregularities, with funds laundered to the US, the UK, Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, and offshore tax havens.
At the meeting, the government decided to establish an asset recovery agency and enact a special law within a week to foster stolen money recovery efforts.
According to a recently released white paper on Bangladesh economy, the country lost $16 billion annually on average between 2009 and 2023 because of illicit fund flow amid systemic tax evasion, misuse of exemptions, and poorly managed public finances during the Awami League regime ousted on August 5 past year.
As per the road map, in the first quarter of 2025, the government will hold meetings with UK bodies to request sanctions, attend asset recovery seminars in London, and finalise draft terms of reference/ request for proposal to engage international law firms and funders.
In the second quarter, it will engage law firms, conduct international asset tracing, join international asset recovery conference, push for freeze on Bangladeshi assets abroad and start settlement process.
In the third quarter, the government will start filing international criminal and civil cases, litigation funders will engage law firms and investigators, finalise sovereign wealth fund proposals and call for the UN and US sanctions.
In the fourth quarter, the government aims to achieve settlements of at least 50 per cent of the 11 priority cases, assets freeze in the cases and the establishment of an asset recovery agency.
About the outcome of the March 10 meeting, the chief adviser鈥檚 press secretary, Shafiqul Alam, at a press briefing on March 11 said that a special law would be formulated within a week to accelerate the efforts of bringing the assets stolen during the ousted Awami League regime back to the country.
鈥榃e are hopeful that we will be able to recover several billion dollars in assets by the end of this year if we can make sufficient progress,鈥� he said.
The BB governor is scheduled to meet with the UK鈥檚 All Party Parliamentary Group on Corruption today, seeking assistance in recovering funds laundered to the UK and also requesting a ban on the sales or transfer of laundered assets linked to Bangladeshis.
On March 19, the governor will hold a conference with international law firms, investigation agencies, and litigation funders over recovery of assets.
The Bangladesh Bank will co-organise the 鈥楤angladesh Asset Recovery Conference鈥� in London in May, in collaboration with the International Anti-Corruption Coordination Centre and the World Bank鈥檚 Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative.
Regarding the 11 priority cases, the BFIU has found Tk聽635.14 crore in 124 frozen bank accounts linked to Sheikh Hasina, her family, and associated entities while eight plots, including six government plots of 60-katha and additional land valued at Tk聽8.85 crore, have been blocked.
Investigations have uncovered assets connected to Hasina, her family, and related institutions in the US, the UK, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and the Cayman Islands while Russian 鈥榮lush fund鈥� has also been discovered in a Malaysian account.
A total of 125 bank accounts associated with Saifuzzaman and entities linked to his interests have been frozen, with Tk聽15.06 crore in cash seized.
Saifuzzaman鈥檚 shares worth Tk聽102.85 crore have been frozen. The BFIU has requested the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to send letters to relevant countries for the attachment of his 228 properties in the United Arab Emirates, seven in the US and 343 in the UK.
On October 21, 2024, the court ordered the seizure of assets of Bashundhara Group managing director Sayem Sobhan Anvir, his wife Sabrina Sobhan and brother and the Group鈥檚 vice-chairman Safwan Sobhan Tasvir in the UAE, Slovakia and the UK.
The court also on November 21 ordered the ACC to seize assets of Bashundhara Group chairman Ahmed Akbar Sobhan and eight family members in six countries and two offshore jurisdictions.
On March 10, a Dhaka court ordered the seizure of 1,006 bighas of land belonging to S Alam Group chairman Mohammad Saiful Alam and his family.
Earlier, January 16, the court ordered the ACC to seize S Alam鈥檚 shares worth Tk 3,563.84 crore, while it ordered on February 3 the seizure of his 175 bighas of land worth Tk聽368.25 crore.
The court on February 12 asked the ACC to freeze 437.85 million shares valued at Tk聽5,109 crore of S Alam Group. The court on February 23 also ordered seizing shares worth Tk聽8,133.56 crore of S Alam Group.
A Dhaka court on March 9 ordered the seizure of 191 bank accounts and 54 kathas of land of Summit Group chairman Muhammad Aziz Khan and his family members.
On March 9, the same court directed the authorities to freeze 42 beneficiary owners鈥� accounts of former National Bank chairman and Sikder Group founder late Zainul Haque Sikder and his family members.
On March 11, the court ordered freezing 31 bank accounts and seizing 43 acres of land, along with a flat, belonging to Obaidul Karim, the chairman of Orion Group.
On March 13, the court ordered the ACC to seize Gemcon Group鈥檚 4.26 crore shares in 36 companies in connection with corruption charges. The value of the share has been calculated at Tk 60 crore by the ACC.
On February 16, the ACC filed a case against NASSA Group chairman Nazrul Islam Mazumder on charges of amassing illegal assets worth Tk聽781 crore while on February 4, authorities froze 52 bank accounts of Nazrul and his family members.
The ACC on March 20 filed a case against 11 people, including Baximco Group鈥檚 Salman F Rahman and his son Ahmed Sayan Fazlur Rahman, on charges of embezzling Tk 33.64 crore and laundering Tk聽76 crore.
On March 8, a Dhaka court ordered the freezing of 73 bank accounts with deposited Tk聽98.94 crore belonging to Nabil Group, its managing director Aminul Islam and other individuals associated with him.
Earlier in January, the ACC formed 10 inquiry teams under an inter-agency task force headed by the BB governor to probe money laundering allegations against the country's leading business groups.
ACC director general (prevention) Md Akhtar Hossain said that the commission was working to complete soon probes into allegations of money laundering against a number of individuals and entities.
The commission also sought information from various countries through legal ways regarding the graft suspects over the money laundering, he added.