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Several Bangladeshis who are under the Anti-Corruption Commission scrutiny in Bangladesh appear to have either sold, transferred or refinanced property in the United Kingdom since the past year’s mass uprising that toppled the Sheikh Hasina-led authoritarian Awami League regime.

The individuals were reportedly the deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s close aides.

The transactions have raised questions about the freedom with which those under suspicion have continued to conduct business in London, as well as the due diligence performed by UK law firms and consultants who helped facilitate the transactions, according to an investigation by British daily The Guardian and Berlin-based Transparency International.

The Guardian reported that Bangladeshi investigators were cooperating with the UK’s National Crime Agency to trace and recover assets suspected of having been acquired illegally.

Following the reports in the international media, the Anti-Corruption Commission on Sunday said that the commission would take steps to prevent transaction of the property in the UK.

Asked, ACC director general (prevention) Md Akhter Hossain at a press briefing said, ‘If specific information is received, steps will be taken to prevent the sale of those assets.’

The report said that several politically connected Bangladeshis from the ousted Sheikh Hasina regime channelled vast sums of money into UK real estate over the past year, raising  concerns of corruption and prompting calls for asset freezes by British authorities, The Guardian reported on Saturday.

Following the ouster of Sheikh Hasina in a student-led mass uprising nearly a year ago, investigators in Dhaka are probing allegations that top figures in her regime laundered money through London’s luxury property market.

Some individuals under scrutiny have sold, transferred, or refinanced UK assets since the regime change, despite being subject to ongoing anti-corruption investigations.

The UK’s National Crime Agency has already frozen over £260 million in property assets belonging to figures linked to the Hasina government. These include £90 million linked to the family of Salman F Rahman, a former adviser to Sheikh Hasina, and another £170 million to former land minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, who is alleged to own more than 300 UK properties.

Now, newly uncovered transactions suggest that even more properties linked to suspect individuals have been actively traded, potentially undermining efforts to recover stolen assets.

At least 20 applications for ‘dealing’ – a legal term covering sales, transfers, or changes to mortgages – have been submitted to the UK land registry in the past year for properties owned by people under investigation by the Anti-Corruption Commission.

Among them are three properties worth £24.5 million owned by members of the Sobhan family, which controls the Bashundhara Group.

One, a four-storey Knightsbridge townhouse, owned directly by Bashundhara’s managing director Sayem Sobhan Anvir until April past year, was reportedly transferred without payment to a UK company connected to a real estate advisory firm previously engaged by the family. It was later sold for £7.35 million to a company linked to a low-profile accountant believed to manage multiple luxury properties.

Two other properties owned by Shafiat Sobhan, another family member, also saw recent applications for dealing, including an £8 million mansion in Surrey. The family has denied all allegations of wrongdoing.

ACC officials said that they had formally requested the NCA to consider freezing more assets linked to these individuals.

‘We are aware of efforts to liquidate assets and would like the UK government to consider more freezing orders,’ said Ahsan Mansur, Bangladesh Bank governor, leading the asset repatriation effort.

Meanwhile, properties owned by Anisuzzaman Chowdhury, brother of Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, have seen similar activity. He sold a £10 million townhouse in central London and refinanced three more properties. His lawyers argue the sales occurred before the uprising and claim there are no legal grounds for asset freezes.

The ACC is also examining whether Saifuzzaman aided a London-based Bangladeshi property developer in securing irregular bank loans. The developer, now under a travel ban, denies any wrongdoing.

Further scrutiny has fallen on the Rahman family, owners of Beximco. Three properties tied to Salman F Rahman’s son and nephew, including a £35 million Mayfair apartment, have been frozen by the NCA.

The family’s legal representatives deny wrongdoing, attributing the allegations to political upheaval.

UK lawmaker Joe Powell, who chairs a parliamentary group on corruption, urged authorities to move swiftly. ‘History tells us that assets can quickly evaporate unless frozen during investigations,’ he said.

The Transparency International, which assisted in the investigation, warned that UK law firms and property consultants might have helped facilitate questionable transactions without proper checks.

‘Professional services firms should exercise extreme caution and perform rigorous source-of-wealth checks,’ the group said.

While Bangladesh’s interim government pushes for repatriation of suspected stolen funds, the unfolding revelations highlight the scale of money laundering through London’s property market — and the challenges of tracking it down before it disappears.