Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit asked banks to freeze the accounts of prime minister Sheikh Hasina鈥檚 former personal assistant, Jahangir Alam, hours before the prime minister indicated his substantial asset accumulation at a press conference on Sunday.聽
The BFIU issued a letter to all banks giving such instructions on the day.
The BFIU also instructed banks to freeze the accounts of his wife, Kamrun Nahar, and their associated companies under the Money Laundering Act of 2012, according聽 to the letter.
Additionally, the banks have been asked to provide all relevant account documents, bank statements, KYC documents, and other related records within five working days, it said.
On Sunday, prime minister Sheikh Hasina brought up the issue of the wealth accumulation by one of her peons without disclosing his name.
鈥楬e [unnamed] worked in my house as a peon. Now he owns Tk 400 crore. He uses helicopters for travel. How did he make so much money? After I found out, I took action,鈥� she said at a press conference held at her official residence, Ganabhaban.
Jahangir served as a personal employee of the prime minister between 2009 and 2018.
Jahangir also worked as a personal staff member at her residence, Sudha Sadan, when prime minister Hasina, was in opposition.
Although Jahangir was officially the prime minister鈥簊 personal staff, he allegedly often introduced himself as her special assistant.
Using this false title, he engaged in lobbying within the secretariat regularly to gain personal benefits.
He exploited his connections to extort money from various levels of the Awami League leaders through lobbying.
He also used this identity to secure the position of vice president of the Noakhali district Awami League. Furthermore, he established a political stronghold in the Noakhali-1 parliamentary constituency.