The interim government has so far seized foreign assets worth Tk聽10,451 crore linked to 10 influential business groups and the family of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, according to a Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit report.
The asset recovery operation, led by the Bangladesh Bank and other government agencies, targets wealth accumulated through alleged embezzlement, money laundering and abusing political influence.
The 10 groups under graft investigation are S Alam, Beximco, Nabil, Summit, Orion, Gemcon, Nassa, Bashundhara, Sikder and Aramit.
Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League regime was ousted in a mass uprising on August 5 past year. After the ouster of the regime, the interim government assumed office.
Of the fund seized, courts have attached Tk聽6,097 crore in immovable properties and Tk聽4,354 crore in movable assets across several foreign nations.
The BFIU report stated that the UK鈥檚 National Crime Agency also seized $260 million in assets tied to Saifuzzaman Chowdhury and the Beximco Group.
Bangladesh government has seized domestic assets worth Tk聽46,805 crore linked to 11 ongoing cases.
This includes Tk 7,774 crore in immovable properties and significant sums in movable assets.
Additionally, Tk 1,680 crore in 1,573 bank accounts linked to the groups and Hasina family have been frozen.
Another 188 beneficiary owner accounts in the stock market, valued at Tk聽15,000 crore, were also frozen and later attached by court orders.
Joint investigation teams, each comprising officials from the Criminal Investigation Department, the National Board of Revenue and the Anti-Corruption Commission, have been assigned to each group and to Hasina鈥檚 family.
These teams are identifying assets, securing court orders, and coordinating recovery efforts under the leadership of the BFIU, officials said.
They said that attached assets included large bank deposits, shares in banks and listed companies, and luxury properties, some owned by individuals who left the country or renounced Bangladeshi citizenship.
Several of the groups have already been under scrutiny for huge defaulted loans.
The amount of the defaulted loans of the 10 business groups climbed to Tk聽51,663 crore, out of a total loan of Tk 3.56 lakh crore as of December 2024.
The amount of defaulted loans of S Alam Group hit Tk聽11,850 crore at Janata Bank and Union Bank, that of Bashundhara Group Tk聽7,811 crore, that of Nabil Group Tk聽7,000 crore, that of Sikder Group Tk聽2,094 crore, that of Orion Group Tk聽1,461 crore, that of Saifuzzaman Chowdhury Tk聽638 crore and that of Gemcon Group Tk聽193 crore.
The Bangladesh Bank said that funds recovered from embezzled loans would be returned to the affected banks to help repair their capital shortfalls and provisioning gaps.
The central bank is also working with foreign authorities through mutual legal assistance treaties to trace and recover assets abroad, particularly in jurisdictions where laundered money was invested in casinos, luxury real estate and shell companies.
The crackdown comes as part of a broader attempt to stabilise the banking sector, which was heavily undermined by political interference and crony lending during the AL regime.
Officials said that most of the banks damaged badly by these groups鈥� loans might face mergers or liquidation under the Bank Resolution Ordinance 2025, which empowers the Bangladesh Bank to restructure failing institutions, transfer assets, or set up bridge banks.