Bashundhara chair, family: Freeze 70 bank accounts, shares in 22 companies

A Dhaka court yesterday ordered the relevant authorities to freeze 70 bank accounts of Bashundhara Group Chairman Ahmed Akbar Sobhan Shah Alam and seven of his family members, including his son and Group Managing Director Sayem Sobhan Anvir, in connection with corruption allegations.

According to an application by the Anti-Corruption Commission placed before the court, Shah Alam and his seven family members had deposited Tk 2,075.40 crore and $1,92,034 in these accounts, where the current balance is Tk 19.81 crore and $10,538.

The other family members whose bank accounts were ordered to be frozen are Shah Alam’s sons Sadat Sobhan, Shafiat Sobhan and Safwan Sobhan; Sadat’s wife Sonia Ferdowshi Sobhan; Anvir’s wife Sabrina Sobhan; and Safwan’s wife Yeasha Sobhan, according to the ACC filings.

The court also ordered to freeze more than 75.46 crore shares in 22 companies whose market value stands at over Tk 1458.75 crore, as per the ACC application.

The shares are held in the name of the Bashundhara Group chairman, his wife Afroza Begum as well as four sons and three daughters-in-laws mentioned above.

Judge Md Zakir Hossain of the Metropolitan Senior Special Judge’s Court of Dhaka passed the order following an application by ACC Assistant Director Md Sajid-Ur-Roman, who is heading the inquiry, said Aktarul Islam, the public relations officer of the ACC.

The ACC application said, “Shah Alam and his seven family members, along with their associates and related entities, have invested large sums of money in Slovakia and Cyprus without obtaining permission from Bangladesh Bank or complying with the laws of Bangladesh, in order to acquire foreign citizenship through investment.

“We have information that they acquired foreign passports and invested significant amounts in multiple companies or business ventures in Slovakia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Switzerland, the British Virgin Islands, the United Kingdom, and Singapore, and deposited money in Habib Bank Ltd in the United Arab Emirates, conducted large financial transactions with Eurobank in Cyprus, and purchased house properties in Cyprus. These assets were acquired outside Bangladesh without the approval of the government of Bangladesh.”

The ACC filings also alleged that “despite being Bangladeshi citizens, they invested large amounts of money to obtain foreign passports and citizenship”.

The application states, “According to the Bangladesh laws, prior approval from Bangladesh Bank is required to transfer capital from Bangladesh to foreign countries. In this case, it has been learned that the persons facing the allegations did not obtain prior approval from Bangladesh Bank before transferring capital overseas.

“They concealed information regarding their overseas assets and did not disclose those in their tax returns. In other words, they unlawfully transferred money abroad without government approval.”

The ACC further submitted, “They laundered money from Bangladesh by illegally transferring, converting, and layering funds to acquire assets in Slovakia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Switzerland, the British Virgin Islands, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, and Cyprus.

“In addition, they opened accounts in various foreign banks under personal and business names and conducted illegal financial transactions through these accounts. Furthermore, investigations have revealed that they have also acquired huge properties within Bangladesh using illegally obtained funds.”

According to the ACC, Shah Alam and his family members have been attempting to transfer money and shares elsewhere. “If they do it, inquiry into the allegations brought against them might be hampered. So, an order is needed to prevent them from doing so.”

They laundered money from Bangladesh by illegally transferring, converting, and layering funds to acquire assets in Slovakia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Switzerland, the British Virgin Islands, the UK, the UAE, Singapore, and Cyprus. — According to ACC

The Daily Star contacted MM Jasim Uddin, chief operating officer of Bashundhara Group’s brand and marketing, by phone last night for comments and he asked us to send the questions in writing. We sent the questions in WhatsApp, but he did not respond as of filing this report at 1:00am today.

On November 21 last year, the same court ordered a freeze on the alleged foreign assets of Shah Alam and his eight family members in six countries and two offshore jurisdictions.

These assets include bank accounts, real estate, and business holdings.

The order had come in relation to an ACC application that said Shah Alam and his family allegedly amassed huge wealth beyond their disclosed sources of income through illicit means and subsequently, laundered money to various locations, including the United Arab Emirates, Slovakia, St Kitts and Nevis, Switzerland, the British Virgin Islands, the United Kingdom, Singapore and Cyprus.

On October 6 last year, Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) asked banks to freeze all personal accounts of the Bashundhara Group chairman and his family members.

About two weeks later on October 21, the same court issued a travel ban on Akbar Sobhan and eight members of his family in connection with corruption allegations.

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