Courts have frozen assets worth about Tk 57,257 crore in the past eight months in cases involving members of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s family and 10 major business groups.
The frozen assets include Tk 43,385 crore movable and Tk 13,871 crore immovable, with Tk 46,805 crore in Bangladesh and Tk 10,451 crore abroad. The cases cover Hasina’s family, S Alam Group, Beximco, Summit, Bashundhara, Gemcon, Orion, Nabil, Nassa, Sikder and Aramit groups.
The high-level task force, formed on January 6 by the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU), includes the ACC, NBR, and CID, with the ACC leading the probes. Officials said assets abroad have been traced and work is under way with international partners to recover them. Sanctions via the UK, US, and UN are also being considered.
Bank Accounts, BO Shares Frozen
The document shows about Tk 17,215 crore frozen in bank deposits and BO shares, including Tk 1,679.72 crore in local currency and $3 million in dollar accounts across 1,573 bank accounts. Another Tk 15,500 crore is held in 188 BO accounts. Court orders extended freezes initially placed by the BFIU under money laundering regulations.
Frozen accounts include those of Hasina, her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy, daughter Saima Wazed Putul, sister Sheikh Rehana, and nephew Radwan Mujib Siddiq. Leading businessmen affected include S Alam Group Chairman Mohammed Saiful Alam, Beximco’s Salman F Rahman and family, Bashundhara’s Ahmed Akbar Sobhan and family, Aramit owner Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, Orion’s Obaidul Karim family, and others. Accounts of the Awami League’s Centre for Research and Information (CRI) and its Young Bangla project were also frozen.
Two priority cases — against Beximco and Saifuzzaman — saw the UK National Crime Agency freeze assets worth £260 million (Tk 4,256 crore).
Business Impact
Several conglomerates said the freezes have crippled operations. Orion Group MD Salman Obaidul Karim said personal accounts and properties were seized, and banks were reluctant to open LCs. Nassa Group Vice Chairman Ranjan Chowdhury said its bank account was suspended due to defaults, leaving 20,000–25,000 workers at risk.
Summit Group said in a statement that the “wholesale” freezes were “unfounded” and have hurt jobs, investment prospects, and Bangladesh’s reputation.
Meanwhile, many other group representatives, including those from S Alam, Beximco, Bashundhara, Gemcon, Sikder, Nabil and Aramit, did not respond to requests for comment.
Background
The probe follows earlier revelations by Bangladesh Bank that $17–18 billion (Tk 2.2 lakh crore) was siphoned abroad between 2009 and 2023. Officials said most laundered funds went to the US, UK, Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Hong Kong.
“All these assets were built with laundered money,” said one task force member. “Orders are being issued through local cases to seize them.”
