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Assets worth Tk 490 crore of graft suspects were seized abroad by orders of different Bangladeshi courts in the past 14 months.

Meanwhile, courts passed orders for the seizure of foreign assets of local graft suspects following petitions submitted by the Anti-Corruption Commission between July 2024 and August 2025.  

Bangladeshi courts also ordered the ACC to seize assets worth Tk 24,826 crore, at home, of individuals or entities facing ACC probes or cases.

The assets include lands, deposited money in banks, shares, saving certificates, apartments, and investment in various businesses.

In 2012, the ACC was able to repatriate approximately 20.41 lakh Singapore dollars to Bangladesh but there is no such example of bringing back laundered money to the country before and after that instance.

According to data of the ACC Asset Management Division, the commission received orders from Bangladeshi courts to seize assets worth Tk 165 crore in several countries between July 2024 and February 2025. 

Bangladeshi courts also ordered the ACC to seize assets worth Tk 325 crore of graft suspects abroad between April 2025 and August 2025.

ACC public prosecutor Mir Ahmed Ali Salam on Tuesday told ¶¶Òõ¾«Æ·, ‘The asset freezing order is sent to the relevant country. After that, as per legal process, the legal authority of the country concerned enforces the order.’

Several ACC officials told ¶¶Òõ¾«Æ· that the commission sent a number of court orders to the respective countries to seize assets of graft suspects, but there was no progress in most of the cases.

ACC former director general Moyeedul Islam said, ‘The ACC sent Mutual Legal Assistance Requests to the respective countries after the Bangladeshi court ordered the ACC to seize foreign assets of the graft suspect, but we do not see any progress later in the process.’  

Despite the seizure of foreign assets of Bangladeshi graft suspects under court orders, actually there is no visible progress in the seizure of the assets abroad, he said.

‘There is a need for continuous communication with the relevant countries for successfully seizing assets abroad but the ACC is just doing publicity on the seizure of foreign assets in stead of continuous communication,’ he added.

According to ACC officials, the majority of the seized assets belong to influential members of the ousted Awami League government, including former ministers, lawmakers, and their business associates.

Transparency International Bangladesh executive director Iftekharuzzaman said that the process of bringing back laundered assets from abroad is a complex and time-consuming process.

The government should pay adequate attention to preventing money laundering, he added.

In July this year, the Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Court ordered the ACC to freeze 64 bank accounts, shares of 10 companies, and insurance policies of S Alam Group chair Mohammed Saiful Alam and his family members in Singapore.

Earlier, on June 24, the court ordered the seizure of a two-storey villa in Limassol, Cyprus and the freezing of a $3,50,000 investment in Hazec International Pte Ltd in the British Virgin Islands, along with shares in 18 other offshore companies, including Peacock Property Holdings -- all belonging also to Saiful Alam and his family members.

The court also froze six trust funds under Jersey Trust Company owned by Saiful Alam.

On February 18, the same court ordered the seizure of assets of Bashundhara Group managing director Sayem Sobhan Anvir, his wife Sabrina Sobhan, and his brother and the group’s vice-chair Safwan Sobhan Tasvir in the United Arab Emirates, Slovakia, and the United Kingdom.

According to the ACC petition, Sayem Sobhan holds the position of managing director in two Slovakian companies — Calcutronic Holdings, with a capital of €5,000, and Gagagugu, valued at €5,000.

He also owns a Tk 12.4 core two-bedroom flat on the 11th floor of the Burj Khalifa building in the UAE while he serves as director in two UK-based companies — Worldera Corporation Ltd, where he owns one lakh shares, and ASWA Holdings Ltd, where he holds five lakh shares.

Sayem’s wife Sabrina Sobhan is a director of the UK-based Euroasia Television Network Ltd with 27,000 shares. Safwan Sobhan is also a director of Global Multi Trade Ltd, another UK-based company.

The ACC also said that Bashundhara Group chair Ahmed Akbar Sobhan and his family members invested in six companies in Slovakia, United Kingdom and bought flat in Burj Khalifa Tower in Dubai of the United Arab Emirates.

In December, 2024, a Dhaka court directed freezing foreign assets belonging to Bashundhara Group Chair and eight of his family members in six countries and two offshore jurisdictions.

The frozen assets included bank accounts, real estate holdings, and business investments.

Sayem Sobhan Anvir obtained Slovakian citizenship by investing €3 million. Yasha Sobhan secured Cypriot citizenship by investing €2 million. Ahmed Akbar Sobhan and Afroza Begum obtained St Kitts and Nevis citizenship by investing $25 million.

The petition revealed that the family invested in 19 companies in these jurisdictions and purchased multiple properties, including houses in Cyprus.

Safwan Sobhan and Sonia Ferdowshi were found to have bank accounts in Habib Bank (UAE) and Eurobank (Cyprus), used as illicit transactions.

From Safwan’s Habib Bank account, €287.5 million was transferred to Sonia’s account and then remitted to Cyprus. They reportedly hold $3,56,970 in these accounts.

Sonia was listed as a shareholder in or beneficiary of several companies in the British Virgin Islands, including Asimina Consulting Inc, Francatina Development Inc, and Soms Group SA.

Besides, at least 580 apartments were seized abroad -- belonging to former land minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury.

ACC data also show that the commission seized assets worth Tk 24,826 crore of graft suspects in Bangladesh.

Of the assets, the commission seized assets worth Tk 10,309 crore under court orders between July 2024 and February 2025 in Bangladesh.

The commission also seized other assets worth of Tk 14,517 crore in the country between April and August 2025.

ACC director general (prevention) Akhtar Hossain said that the commission seized assets of graft suspects following court orders to prevent the handover of assets before the completion of probes or cases.

The ACC official, however, could not give information as to many assets were seized abroad following seizure orders by Bangladeshi courts.

Following the ouster of the Awami League government on August 5, 2024 amid a student-led mass uprising, the ACC intensified its probe into illegal assets belonging to influential individuals, closely linked to ousted Hasina government.