UK Properties Worth Millions Linked to Hasina's Inner Circle

Rtv News

01 Dec 2024, 11:19

Photo: Collected

Following the fall of Sheikh Hasina's government on August 5 amid a mass uprising of students and citizens, shocking revelations have been surfacing one after another. In this context, significant properties belonging to close associates of the deposed Prime Minister, including former ministers and MPs, have been discovered in the United Kingdom. Reports indicate that over £400 million (approximately BDT 6,000 crore) has been invested in the UK real estate sector, with all the money allegedly laundered from Bangladesh.

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On Saturday (November 30), The Guardian, a prominent UK media outlet, published an investigative report revealing these findings.

Earlier, British media The Observer (a sister publication of The Guardian) and Berlin-based anti-corruption organization Transparency International conducted a joint investigation into the matter.

According to the report, nearly 350 properties associated with Sheikh Hasina’s close circle have been identified in the UK. These range from apartments to sprawling mansions. Most of these properties were purchased under the names of offshore companies based in the UK and abroad.

Notable owners include former Private Industry and Investment Adviser Salman F. Rahman and members of the family of Ahmed Akbar Sobhan, chairman of the Bashundhara Group. Additionally, former Land Minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, Chairman of NASSA Group Nazrul Islam Mazumder, and their families own a significant portion of these assets.

The report states that members of Salman F. Rahman’s family own seven luxury apartments in London’s Grosvenor Square, most of which were purchased through offshore companies. In March 2022, Salman’s son Ahmed Shayan F. Rahman reportedly purchased an apartment there for £26.75 million. He also owns a flat in the area valued at £35.5 million.

Additionally, another family member, Ahmed Shahriar Rahman, owns four properties in and around Grosvenor Square worth £23 million, also acquired through offshore companies.

Lawyers for Shayan Rahman and Shahriar Rahman have claimed that all the properties were purchased in full compliance with anti-money laundering laws and financial regulations.

Salman F. Rahman, Vice Chairman of Beximco Group, is currently in custody in Bangladesh, facing allegations of money laundering. Bangladesh’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is investigating the charges, and the Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) of the central bank has frozen his and his family’s bank accounts.

According to the report, citing the UK’s Land Registry, former Land Minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury and his family own over 300 properties in the UK valued at at least £160 million.

In September, Al Jazeera published an investigative report titled "The Minister’s Millions," which revealed that Saifuzzaman Chowdhury’s overseas properties are valued at an estimated $500 million. The BFIU has since frozen his bank accounts in Bangladesh, and the court has ordered the confiscation of his family’s immovable assets. He is also under a government-imposed travel ban, with the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) launching an investigation into his alleged acquisition of illicit wealth.

Beyond politicians, wealthy and influential Bangladeshi businesspeople also own properties in the UK. In Surrey, members of Bashundhara Group Chairman Ahmed Akbar Sobhan’s family reportedly own two properties purchased for £13 million through offshore companies. During a site visit, The Observer discovered a mansion owned by one of Sobhan’s sons.

On October 21, the government imposed a travel ban on Ahmed Akbar Sobhan and six of his family members and froze their bank accounts.

NASSA Group Chairman Nazrul Islam Mazumder is also under investigation for money laundering. Authorities in Bangladesh are probing how he and his family purchased five properties worth £38 million in London’s Kensington area.

In the wake of the Awami League government’s fall, an interim government led by Nobel laureate economist Dr. Muhammad Yunus has undertaken various reforms. The interim government is also striving to recover funds lost to corruption during the previous administration. Media reports have already uncovered massive overseas properties linked to many former ministers, MPs, and even non-political figures. A significant portion of this laundered wealth appears to have ended up in the UK.

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