Court orders to seize offshore assets of Bashundhara Group owners
Order to confiscate offshore assets & freeze bank accounts of Bashundhara Group chairman, his wife, three sons and daughters-in-law
ACC informed the court of investment of Tk 1.43b, assets & bank details
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has been investigating the allegations against Bashundhara Group chairman Ahmed Akbar Sobhan and seven other members of his family of acquiring wealth beyond known sources of income, ACC public prosecutor Mir Ahmed Ali Salam told Prothom Alo on Monday.
He further said the ACC submitted a list of their movable and immovable offshore assets after its investigation and filed a petition at the court to seize those assets. The court has granted the ACC’s petition.
Mir Ahmed Ali Salam said that showing a court order to the agencies of relevant countries is incumbent to bring back the money laundered abroad. This order from the Dhaka court will help in bringing back the laundered money.
The court asked the authorities to send copies of its order to seize properties of eight members of the family of Ahmed Akbar Sobhan to the authorities concerned of Singapore, Switzerland, the UK, the UAE, Slovakia, Cyprus, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and British Virgin Island.
At the same time, an order has been given to send the same copies to the home ministry, ACC and Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU).
The ACC plea to the court said the accused have taken a huge amount of loan from banks in the name of the companies they own. They laundered a section of that money abroad and bought assets there and made investments.
ACC said Bashundhara Group managing director Sayem Sobhan Anvir took citizenship of Slovakia investing €3 million (about Tk 380 million in current value). His wife Yasha Sobhan took citizenship of Cyprus investing €2 million (about Tk 250 million). Ahmed Akbar Sobhan and his wife Afroza Begum took citizenship of Saint Kitts and Nevis investing nearly USD 250,000 (about Tk 30 million).
Eight members of the family of Ahmed Akbar Sobhan invested in 19 companies in several countries, the ACC informed the court.
The anti-graft watchdog further said that Safwan Sobhan and his wife Sonia Ferdausi Sobhan were involved in illegal transactions by opening accounts at Habib Bank in the UAE and Eurobank in Cyprus.
Earlier, on 21 October, a Dhaka court barred the eight members of the family of Ahmed Akbar Sobhan from leaving the country. Before that the on 6 October court ordered seizing their bank accounts.