Latest news with #SaifuzzamanChowdhury
Bloomberg
a day ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
UK Freezes 342 Properties Linked to Ex-Bangladesh Minister
British police have frozen 342 properties worth around £185 million ($252 million) linked to the family of Bangladesh's ex-land minister, pursuing a crackdown on assets held by members of the former government. The National Crime Agency won the court freezing order against the properties belonging to Saifuzzaman Chowdhury earlier this month. The freezing order comes more than a year after a Bloomberg investigation that showed Chowdhury had amassed a UK real estate empire ranging from luxury apartments in central London to student accommodation in Liverpool.
The National
a day ago
- Business
- The National
UK freezes £185m of properties linked to former Bangladeshi minister
The UK's National Crime Agency has frozen £185 million ($236 million) worth of properties linked to Bangladesh's former land minister, as the country's interim government seeks to recover the billions of dollars it claims were embezzled by the ousted Sheikh Hasina and her allies. The NCA said on Thursday that it had frozen 342 properties with a combined purchase price of about £185 million after it was granted orders by the High Court in London on June 5. 'We can confirm that the NCA has secured freezing orders against a number of properties as part of an on-going civil investigation,' the agency said. The properties are believed to be owned by or linked to Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, land minister of Bangladesh under Sheikh Hasina, agency and includes a high-end property in the St John's Wood area of North London, according to the Financial Times. 'We can confirm that the NCA has secured freezing orders against a number of properties as part of an ongoing civil investigation,' the agency said on Thursday. Freezing orders prevent a person from selling or disposing of an asset while an investigation is under way. Bangladesh's interim leader Mohammed Yunus is on his first official visit to the UK this week, where he reiterated his pledge to track down money he alleges was stolen by the former Sheikh Hasina government. Mr Yunus, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his work on micro-financing, met with King Charles III on Thursday before receiving the King's Harmony Awards. He also met the UK's National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell on Wednesday, while his anti-corruption chief, Ahsan Mansur met the NCA. Mr Yunus said on Wednesday that Bangladesh had a 'historical' opportunity to 'clean' its institutions and combat corruption. The interim government accused Sheikh Hasina's former regime of siphoning $234 billion between 2003 and 2019 in a white paper published late last year. Mr Yunus said that so far overseas governments, including the European Union had been 'extremely supportive' of the efforts. 'Bangladesh is just deep into corruption. Every system is corrupt. People are corrupt. So how to clean it up? What kind of changes do we have to make to make the government clean?' he said, speaking at foreign affairs think tank Chatham House. 'There is a formula, there is a policy, there is a way to do that.' The government was preparing a 'big package' of reforms dubbed the July Charter, which would be drafted by a government 'consensus building commission' that seeks to find common ground among Bangladesh's political parties. 'They're responsibility is to … find out which recommendations all parties accept. That is a tough job for Bangladeshi politicians to agree on something,' he said. He rejected suggestions that such a process was taking away the democratic element and trusting voters to pick the ideas. 'Voters can watch the debate, it's on the newspaper every day. Our aim to get those recommendations, put it in a separate piece of paper. Then all the parties sign the paper,' he said. Last month, Bangladesh reached a deal with the International Monetary Fund, in which Dhaka would get $1.3 billion in June after agreeing to key exchange rate reforms. IMF pressed for greater exchange rate flexibility, particularly the adoption of a crawling peg mechanism. The country was pulling through its deep economic crisis thanks to remittances from migrants in the UK and Middle, Mr Yunus added. The interim government had 'huge bills to pay' which were currently being covered by deposits from Bangladeshis abroad who send money back home. 'We have to make payments for all those people who are knocking at the door with the big checks, big bills that we have to pay, otherwise we're going to the court, which is not good for us,' he said speaking at Chatham House on Wednesday during a 4 day official visit. The banking system had 'collapsed' and foreign reserves were 'empty', he added. 'The best thing that happened to us the overseas Bangladeshis, many of them are here in London, in England and so on and Middle East. They kept sending remittance, a huge amount of remittances, and that saved us,' he said. 'Remittances keep growing, keep growing, keep growing. Today, our balance of payment situation is completely changed,' he said. Earlier this year, Labour MP Tulip Siddiq, resigned from her role as a Treasury minister charged with combatting corruption, after she was named in two Bangladeshi investigations into Sheikh Hasina's assets. The former leader of Bangladesh is Ms Siddiq's aunt, though an investigation by the UK Prime Minister's Standards Adviser Sir Laurie Magnus found no 'evidence of improprieties' on Ms Siddiq's part.
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
NCA freezes £170m of UK property belonging to ally of ousted Bangladesh leader
Britain's serious crime agency has frozen UK property worth £170m belonging to the former land minister of Bangladesh amid a crackdown on former allies of Sheikh Hasina, the autocratic leader deposed in last year's student-led revolution. The National Crime Agency (NCA) confirmed that it had frozen assets belonging to Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, who is among allies of Hasina whose sizeable UK real estate portfolios have come under scrutiny by authorities in Dhaka investigating alleged corruption. Analysis of Land Registry documents indicates that all of Chowdhury's more than 300 properties are subject to asset freezing orders, preventing them from being sold or transferred. These include a luxury home in St John's Wood, London, bought for £11m in 2022, and an apartment block in Fitzrovia, bought for £12.65m a year earlier, part of a portfolio bought for an estimated £170m. Chowdhury is the third member of Bangladesh's former elite to be targeted by the NCA with assets freezes after £90m of property belonging to two members of the Rahman business dynasty were frozen last month. The action follows multiple requests by the interim regime in Dhaka, whose leader, Muhammad Yunus, has been in London this week, for Britain's help in tracing allegedly stolen assets. An NCA spokesperson said: 'We can confirm that the NCA has secured freezing orders against a number of properties as part of an ongoing civil investigation.' One of the homes affected by the freeze was the scene of footage secretly filmed by Al Jazeera as part of an investigation into wealth that Chowdhury had accumulated while he was a government minister. During the meeting, Chowdhury talked about his global property portfolio, his taste for expensive suits and designer 'baby croc' leather shoes and his closeness to Hasina, saying he was 'like her son'. Hasina is the aunt of the UK's former Treasury minister Tulip Siddiq, who resigned from the post in January over her use of properties owned by allies of the ousted leader. Siddiq has since requested a meeting with Yunus to discuss allegations made in Bangladesh, which she denies, that she benefited from corruption. Ben Cowdock, the investigations lead at Transparency International, said: 'These freezing orders present a major step forward, however there still remains millions of pounds worth of UK property – bought by individuals close to Sheikh Hasina – that is at risk of being sold, moved offshore and placed beyond the reach of investigators. 'It is now vital that UK law enforcement intensify efforts to investigate and freeze these remaining assets. Where corruption is found, funds should be returned to Bangladesh and support the interim government's efforts to seek accountability.' The Guardian approached Chowdhury for comment. He has previously said that his UK assets were acquired with the proceeds of legitimate business and that he is the subject of a politically motivated 'witch-hunt'.
Al Jazeera
2 days ago
- Business
- Al Jazeera
UK crime agency freezes assets of disgraced Sheikh Hasina ally
The UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) has frozen properties in the United Kingdom owned by Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, Bangladesh's former Minister of Land, Al Jazeera's Investigative Unit (I-Unit) can reveal. The move follows legal requests from Bangladesh authorities to take action against assets owned by Chowdhury, a political ally of deposed Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of the now-banned Awami League party. Chowdhury is under investigation by Bangladesh authorities for money laundering. Last night, in a statement to the I-Unit, an NCA spokesperson confirmed the freezing order: 'We can confirm that the NCA has secured freezing orders against a number of properties as part of an on-going civil investigation.' The property freeze means, in effect, that the assets cannot be sold by Chowdhury. The action by the police agency, often dubbed 'Britain's FBI', coincided with this week's visit to London by Bangladesh's interim leader, Professor Muhammad Yunus. Last year, Al Jazeera revealed Chowdhury, 56, owns more than 350 properties in the UK. While the full extent of the NCA's action is not yet understood, the I-Unit can disclose that Chowdhury's luxury home in St John's Wood, London, is part of the asset freeze. The home, bought for 11 million pounds ($14.8m), was the scene of secret filming by undercover reporters from Al Jazeera's I-Unit. Reporters met Chowdhury during a long-running investigation into wealth that he had accumulated while he was still a government minister. During the meeting, Chowdhury talked expansively to reporters about his global property portfolio and revealed his taste for expensive suits and designer 'baby croc' leather shoes. He described his close ties to the now deposed Sheikh Hasina, telling Al Jazeera's journalists, 'I am like her son, actually.' 'She knows I have a business here,' he also told them. The I-Unit revealed that Chowdhury, from a powerful family in the port city of Chittagong, amassed a property empire despite a $12,000 annual limit as part of the nation's currency laws on the amount a citizen can take out of Bangladesh. The investigation uncovered that Chowdhury spent more than $500m on real estate in London, Dubai, and New York but did not declare his overseas assets on his Bangladesh tax returns. The undercover meeting was part of the Al Jazeera documentary The Minister's Millions, broadcast last October. Chowdhury had been a close ally of deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled Bangladesh in August 2024 after hundreds were killed as security forces cracked down on student protests. After Hasina's departure, Bangladesh authorities launched an investigation into allegations of widespread corruption in her government. Following the uprising and street violence in Bangladesh, the I-Unit tracked down Chowdhury to his London home, where he could be observed taking leisurely walks around his exclusive neighbourhood, which includes Lord's Cricket Ground. In earlier statements to Al Jazeera, Chowdhury said the funds used to buy his overseas properties came from legitimate businesses outside Bangladesh, which he had owned for years. The former minister claimed he was the subject of a politically motivated 'witch-hunt' against him.
