The Financial Institutions Division has requested the Anti-Corruption Commission to inquire about assets of governors and deputy governors of the Bangladesh Bank and chiefs of the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit between 2009 and August 5, 2025.
In a letter, the division has also requested the anti-corruption agency to inquire about assets of chairpersons, directors and managing directors of 18 private commercials banks and six state-owned banks during the same period that belonged to the authoritarian Awami League regime.
The regime was ousted by a mass uprising on August 5 past year.
The FID sent the letter to the ACC on August 19, with a list of officials, chairpersons, directors and bankers who served the BB, BFIU, 18 private commercial banks and state-owned commercial banks namely Sonali Bank, Janata Bank, Agrani Bank, Rupali Bank, Bangladesh Small Industries and Commerce Bank Limited (BASIC Bank) and Bangladesh Development Bank Limited.
The 18 private banks include Islami Bank, Social Islami Bank, IFIC Bank, UCB, EXIM Bank, First Security Islami Bank, Al-Arafah Islami Bank, Global Islami Bank, Union Bank, National Bank, NRB Bank, NRB Global Bank, Meghna Bank, Bangladesh Commerce Bank, Premier Bank, Padma Bank, AB Bank and ICB Islami Bank.
A FID official said that the banking sector was the den of corruption during the AL regime.
A series of loan theft in the state-owned Sonali, Agrani and Janata are still remained unresolved and corruption at BASIC Bank during the board led by Sheikh Abdul Hye Bacchu sent once the profit-making bank into a dire situation.
The official said that the hostile takeover of about six private commercial banks by S Alam Group, which was linked to the AL regime, held the whole banking sector hostage.
At a press conference on August 12, finance adviser Salehuddin Ahmed lamented that chairpersons and directors of the many private banks received almost 80 per cent of the loans disbursed by the banks.
The money was smuggled abroad, he said.
In June, the United Kingdom鈥檚 National Crime Agency froze UK properties owned by Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, Bangladesh鈥檚 former land minister and also a former member of the executive committee of UCB, on allegations of money laundering.
On August 13, the BIFU asked banks to provide the bank account details of three former governors of the BB and six deputy governors.
The three former governors are Atiur Rahman, Fazle Kabir and Abdur Rouf Talukder. The former deputy governors include Shitangshu Kumar Sur Chowdhury, SM Moniruzzaman, Kazi Sayedur Rahman, Abu Farah Md Nasser and Abu Hena Mohammad Razee Hassan.