The UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) has frozen assets belonging to Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, Bangladesh's former Minister of Land. This action prevents him from selling these properties.
The investigative unit (I-Unit) of Qatar-based news outlet Al Jazeera revealed this information on Wednesday, June 11. This development occurred while Professor Muhammad Yunus, Chief Advisor of Bangladesh's interim government, was visiting London.
In a statement, the NCA announced that it has "frozen a number of properties belonging to Saifuzzaman Chowdhury as part of an ongoing civil investigation," meaning he cannot sell or transfer these assets.
According to Al Jazeera's report, the Bangladeshi government had requested the NCA to seize assets owned by the former Land Minister, leading to the agency's current action.
An NCA spokesperson confirmed the freezing order, stating, "The NCA has obtained freezing orders over a number of properties belonging to Saifuzzaman Chowdhury as part of an ongoing civil investigation."
Saifuzzaman Chowdhury served as the Land Minister during the tenure of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was recently ousted from power. Bangladeshi authorities are currently investigating him on allegations of money laundering.
