DHAKA, Dec 1, 2024 (BSS) – Huge properties have been found in the United Kingdom (UK) belonging to the close circle of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The circle, included former ministers, politicians and businessmen, have an accumulated investment of approximate over 40 crore pound (approximately Tk 6,000 crore) or much more in the UK housing sector, according to a finding of joint investigation by British newspaper The Observer and Berlin-based anti-corruption organization Transparency International.

The findings, published in The Guardian on Saturday, where investigators indicated that these properties were purchased with money laundered from Bangladesh through “hundi” instead of repaying bank loans.

Recently, the government, including the governor of Bangladesh Bank, has said that at least Tk 17 lakh crore has been laundered abroad from the country during the Hasina government. A significant amount of it has been destined for London.

However, Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) Executive Director and Head of the Anti-Corruption Commission Reform Commission Dr Iftekharuzzaman said that although the Bangladesh Bank governor mentioned $17 billion was laundered from the banking sector, but the actual amount is much higher than it.

At a press conference in Dhaka in early November, he said that during the Awami League regime, influential people closely associated with the government using the state facilities laundered $12 to $15 billion each year under the guise of the banking sector and trade, although there is no real calculation of how much money was laundered during the tenure of Sheikh Hasina-led government.

Meanwhile, Dr. Debapriya Bhattacharya, the head of the White Paper Committee, formed to investigate irregularities and corruption in the economy, today submitted its report to the Chief Advisor Professor Muhammad Yunus.

The White Paper Committee report revealed that an average of US$ 16 billion was laundered abroad every year during the rule of Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted in a mass uprising by students and the public.

Shafiqul Alam, Chief Advisor's Press Secretary, told BSS that the white paper report, which analyzed each sector of the economy separately, showed how statistics have been manipulated to create a story of development. Although the story of development was being narrated, a grand ritual of looting was going on inside, he added.

The findings of the investigation indicated ownership of nearly 350 properties ranging from luxury apartments to sprawling mansions. Many of these were reportedly acquired through offshore companies and shell entities linked to Sheikh Hasina's close allies.

Many of these properties, purchased through offshore companies, are owned by Salman F Rahman, former Prime Minister's Private Industry and Investment Advisor, and Bashundhara Group Chairman Ahmed Akbar Sobhan's family members. In addition, former Land Minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, NASA Group Chairman Nazrul Islam Majumder and their family members.

These range from mid-sized flats to large mansions. The properties have been purchased in the names of various organizations (offshore companies) in the UK and outside the country.

Beximco Group Vice Chairman Salman F Rahman is currently in prison in Bangladesh. He is being investigated by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Bangladesh Police on charges of money laundering. In addition, the bank accounts of Salman and his family members have been frozen by the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU), an arm of the central bank.

Authorities tracing that money have alighted on Grosvenor Square, in London’s Mayfair district, among the largest and most prestigious of the capital’s 18th-century garden plazas.

Members of the Rahman family own – or hold stakes in – seven luxury apartments there, most via companies based in offshore jurisdictions. One, bought for £26.75m in March 2022, is owned – via a British Virgin Islands company – by Ahmed Shayan Rahman. He also owns another flat in the square that cost £35.5m.

Offshore companies controlled by his cousin, Ahmed Sharyar, own a further four properties worth a combined £23m, in the same square and nearby.

Legal representatives for Salman's family have denied wrongdoing, asserting that all acquisitions complied with money-laundering laws.

Besides, former land minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury and his family are said to own over 300 properties in the UK, valued at approximately £160 million. A previous report by Al Jazeera in September estimated the global value of his assets at $500 million.

BFIU has frozen Chowdhury's bank accounts, and a court has ordered the seizure of his immovable assets within the country. He is also under investigation by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and is barred from leaving Bangladesh.

The Guardian report said that apart from politicians, Bangladesh's wealthy and influential businessmen also have property in the UK.

The chairman of Bashundhara Group, Ahmed Akbar Sobhan, and his family reportedly own two properties worth £13 million in Surrey, purchased through offshore companies. During the investigation, a mansion linked to Sobhan's son was identified in the area. The family strongly denies the allegations, with Bashundhara's vice-chairman, Safwan Sobhan, claiming the accusations are baseless.

The Bangladesh government banned Ahmed Akbar Sobhan, including six members of his family, from leaving the country on October 21. The BFIU has also frozen their bank accounts.

In addition, Nazrul Islam Mazumder, chairman of Nasa Group, is also under investigation for money laundering. He and his family allegedly own five properties worth £38 million in London's Kensington area.