Former Land Minister of Bangladesh Saifuzzaman Chowdhury spent more than Rs 6,000 crore on luxury real estate in London, Dubai and New York. But he did not mention the foreign assets in his Bangladesh tax return.
Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit (I-Unit) confirmed the matter through a lengthy investigation.
I-Unit investigated in the UK how Chowdhury built this huge property empire despite the $12 billion annual limit as part of the country’s currency laws.
Lawyer of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. Shahdeen Malik told Al Jazeera that the country’s constitution clearly states that politicians must declare their foreign assets.
Bangladeshi authorities have seized Chowdhury’s bank account. It is now investigating Chaudhary’s allegations of smuggling millions of dollars to the UK.
Chowdhury was a close ally of ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. After Hasina’s departure, Bangladeshi authorities launched an investigation into allegations of widespread corruption in her government. In the continuation of this, the image of Chowdhury’s corruption emerges.
Ever since the Bangladesh Anti-Corruption Commission began investigating Chowdhury’s alleged illegal acquisition of “thousands of crores of taka”, the central bank has frozen his and his family’s bank accounts.
An I-Unit investigation revealed that Chowdhury had bought 360 houses in the UK alone since 2016.
Anti-money laundering laws consider high-ranking politicians and government officials a high corruption risk. This is because the inflation of their wealth may be due to embezzlement from state funds or due to their bribery to obtain government contracts.
London estate agent Ripon Mahmoud introduced Al Jazeera’s I Unit reporters to a network of Chowdhury’s advisers in London. Who assisted in building this huge mountain of wealth of Chowdhury. That network includes Charles Douglas Solicitors LLP, which has worked for him on hundreds of property loan refinances. Paresh Raja, who has taken out hundreds of loans through his company Market Financial Solutions and his other businesses. Rahul Marde of Singapore bank DBS, which also lent money to the minister.
As a high-ranking politician, he was classified as a politically important person (PEP). Working with estate agents, banks, lenders and lawyers in the UK required extra scrutiny and stricter checks.
Chowdhury told Al Jazeera in response to the inquiry that the funds used to buy his foreign properties came from legitimate businesses outside Bangladesh.
Chowdhury fled Bangladesh in August. He claims that he is a victim of politically motivated harassment against people associated with the previous government.
Charles Douglas Solicitors LLP, Market Financial Solutions, Paresh Reza, DBS Bank and Ripon Mahmoud told Al Jazeera they had carried out robust anti-money laundering checks on Chowdhury. They also said that his fund is not Bangladesh. Sourced from legitimate and established businesses in UAE, USA and UK.
The latest incidents in Bangladesh, advisers say, did not make the information available to anyone conducting historical anti-money laundering or know-your-customer checks, which are standard procedures for financial institutions.
Al Jazeera’s investigative unit follows the trail of The Minister’s Millions to find out how Chaudhary built his half-billion-dollar property empire.