The Anti-Corruption Commission has started an inquiry against former Awami League government鈥檚 land minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury over allegations of laundering money to the United Kingdom and amassing illegal wealth.
The commission took a decision for inquiry against Saifuzzaman at a meeting of the ACC chaired by its chairman Mohammad Moinuddin Abdullah on Wednesday, said ACC secretary Khorsheda Yasmeen.
She earlier said that the commission decided to run an inquiry against the former land minister following the recommendation of the ACC intelligence unit.
鈥楾here are allegations that the former minister laundered thousands crore of money to the UK and amassed wealth through corruption and irregularities,鈥� she told 抖阴精品 recently.
Amid the ACC inquiry, Al Jazeera鈥檚 Investigative Unit in a report on Wednesday revealed how Saifuzzaman built a half billion-dollar property empire abroad on a modest official salary.
A writ petition has been filed with the High Court, challenging the legality of freezing bank accounts of four companies, including Aramit PLC, owned by businessman Saifuzzaman. The companies are also seeking a court directive to unfreeze their accounts, which reportedly hold Tk聽4,200 crore.
On September 17, the vacation bench of Justice Md Kamrul Hossain Mollah and Justice Kazi Zinat Hoque adjourned the hearing for a week, stating that further scrutiny of the petition was needed.
Supreme Court Bar Association president AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon, who is also a BNP leader, urged the court to expedite the hearing, emphasising that the companies are unable to operate due to the frozen accounts.
Additional attorney general Aneek R Haque told 抖阴精品 that Khokon and his junior, Saqeb Bin Mahbub, had earlier moved the petition before the regular bench led by Justice Md Kamrul Hossain Mollah. However, the bench removed the petition from the hearing list following objections from the government.
Saqeb told 抖阴精品 that the petition had become irrelevant as the government had already unfrozen the accounts based on an order that no company鈥檚 account should remain closed. Khokon clarified that he represented other directors of the companies and not Awami League leader Saifuzzaman.
Qatar-based media outlet Al Jazeera reported that Saifuzzaman, then a minister of land and a close ally of the now deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina, bought over 360 luxury properties in Britain alone worth $250m. His appetite for real estate spread to Dubai, New York, Singapore, and Malaysia.
The politician boasted of his powerful connections. 鈥楳y father was very close to the prime minister (Sheikh Hasina), actually, and I am also... She is my boss... She knows I have a business here (in Britain),鈥� he told AL Jazeera.
The report available online mentioned that his property buying gained pace in 2017 when he set up his UK companies but accelerated in 2019 when he became a minister.
Posing as property investors, Al Jazeera journalists met the minister in 2023 at his $14 million London home, where he bragged about spending thousands of dollars on hand-made crocodile skin shoes and tailored Italian suits from top London stores.
The politician gave undercover reporters a tour of his London house, featuring a cinema, gym, private elevator, and underground parking for his new Rolls-Royce.
Saifuzzaman told Al Jazeera that his properties were purchased with funds earned by his legitimate businesses in the UK, the UAE, and America, and that he is the victim of a political witch hunt.
鈥楾he Al Jazeera report drew our attention, but we have already started an inquiry against him, and legal action will be taken soon based on the inquiry report,鈥� said an ACC official involved with the inquiry on Thursday.
Transparency International Bangladesh, at a press conference on December 26, 2023, at first raised the issue of the minister鈥檚 business abroad worth over Tk聽203 million.
TIB stated that a minister and his wife actively manage six real estate companies abroad, collectively valued at 166.4 million pounds.
TIB raised the issue as the lawmaker candidate before the January 7 election did not mention his investments abroad in his election affidavit submitted to the Election Commission.
Despite the call for inquiry against him, the EC or ACC did not scrutinise his affidavit until the fall of the AL government on August 5.
According to the allegations received by ACC, Saifuzzaman has 260 properties in the UK for which he has paid at least 134.76 million pounds, or Tk聽1,888 crore.
The three-time AL lawmaker from Chattogram-13 stated in his tax returns, submitted to the EC, that he has no foreign income.
The affidavit says his annual income from business is only Tk聽1.35 lakh and did not reveal the annual income of his wife and children.
The properties in the UK were purchased by at least eight companies in which Saifuzzaman has significant stakes. The companies are Aramit Properties, Rukhmila Properties, Sadakat Properties, New Ventures (London) Limited, ZTS Properties, Zeba Properties, ZTZ Property Ventures Ltd, and Zaria Properties.
Most of the properties were incorporated in the UK between 2010 and 2021, when he was a lawmaker and minister.
New Ventures (London) Limited was incorporated in 2010, ZTS Properties Ltd in 2016, Rukhmila Properties in 2019, Aramit Properties in 2020; ZTZ Property Ventures Ltd in 2020; Sadakat Properties Ltd in 2021; Zeba Properties Ltd in 2021; and Zaria Properties LTD in 2021.
The eight companies have assets worth Tk 2,423 crore, according to their financial statements filed at the end of the fiscal year 2022, while these companies have a total of Tk 37.6 crore in bank deposits.
Of his 260 properties, 155 are in London and 30 in Liverpool. The rest are scattered across Slough, Salford, Gillingham, Bromley, Camberley, Sheffield, Manchester, Leeds, Wembley, Tunbridge Wells, Dartford, Uxbridge, Stevenage, Sevenoaks, Romford, Islington, Chelmsford, Birmingham, Upminster, Reading, Harrow, Fleet and Barnet, according to the allegations.