Staff Correspondent, Dhaka
Members of the former Awami League (AL) regime who are under investigation have continued conducting business in London with relative ease, an investigation by The Guardian and Transparency International has revealed, raising concerns about the due diligence exercised by UK law firms and consultants facilitating these transactions.
According to The Guardian's report published on Saturday, Bangladeshi authorities are working closely with the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) to trace and recover assets believed to have been acquired through illicit means.
Millions allegedly laundered into UK property
The interim government is actively investigating whether top officials and politically connected elites under Hasina's regime laundered millions through UK property deals. Much of the suspected wealth was allegedly siphoned from state contracts and the banking system.
In May, the NCA, often referred to as "Britain’s FBI," froze £90 million worth of real estate linked to Salman F Rahman's family, whose UK holdings were previously revealed by a Guardian investigation.
Just three weeks later, the NCA froze over £170 million in assets belonging to Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, a former land minister accused of amassing over 300 UK properties during Hasina’s tenure.
New evidence suggests that several individuals under investigation have continued conducting business in the UK property market—selling, refinancing, or transferring ownership despite the ongoing probes.
Calls for expanded freezing orders
Ahsan H Mansur, governor of Bangladesh Bank and a key figure in the asset recovery mission, is calling for broader UK cooperation. “We are aware of efforts to liquidate assets and we would like the UK government to consider more freezing orders,” Mansur said.
Measures to block transactions would, he added: “Give us hope of following due process to repatriate assets.”
His stance is echoed by Mohammad Abdul Momen, chair of Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), who confirmed that he has formally requested the NCA to freeze more UK-based assets in response to post-revolution property activity.
Joe Powell MP, chair of a UK parliamentary group on corruption and tax, is also urging urgency.
“History tells us that assets can quickly evaporate unless swift steps are taken to freeze those assets while investigations are underway,” he said. He welcomed recent NCA actions and added: “Expand the net as soon as possible.”
