Former land minister of the recently ousted Awami League government Saifuzzaman Chowdhury owns as many as 360 houses in the UK alone. Most of these houses were purchased from renowned builder group The Berkeley Group. The market price of these houses stands at USD 320 million in total. Apart from that, the former minister also has properties in the USA and Dubai.
This information came up in an investigative report aired by Qatar-based international media Al Jazeera. The investigative report titled ‘The Minister’s Millions’ was published on Wednesday night. Al Jazeera’s investigative team ‘I Unit’ ran the investigation.
The report said the former land minister purchased at least 54 properties within 2020 in Dubai. He also has assets in the US. He owns nine lavish apartments there. Five of these houses are in prime locations of New York, including Manhattan and four of these houses are in New Jersey. However, Saifuzzaman hid the information of having such huge assets abroad in his election affidavit and tax files.
Al Jazeera found that Ripon Mahmud of Chattogram handles the assets on behalf of Saifuzzaman Chowdhury in London. Saifuzzaman took a loan from the Bank DBS of Singapore. Rahul Mart, an employee of the Bank also opened up about the huge properties owned by Saifuzzaman Chowdhury. There are also indications about how he built so much wealth abroad.
Besides, Saifuzzaman Chowdhury himself gave an indication about how much he owns and shed lights on his personal life. He admitted that the then prime minister Sheikh Hasina knew about his business abroad here.
He told the ‘I Unit’, “She (Sheikh Hasina) knew I had business here.”
The investigation reveals Saifuzzaman was a very close and trusted person of the former prime minister. Saifuzzaman became a lawmaker and a state minister in 2014. In 2019, Sheikh Hasina made him land minister.
Saifuzzaman too told Al Jazeera, “My father was very close to the prime minister. So am I.”
The former land minister also disclosed his lavish lifestyle before the investigative team of Al Jazeera.
Describing the shoes he was wearing he said, “It’s tailor-made. I also ordered custom-made shoes from Harrods. It takes four months. I bought the shoes for 3,000 pounds.”
He further said the shoes are made of ostriches skin and crocodile skin. The shoes made completely of crocodile skins cost 6,000 pounds. And shoes made of half crocodile skin and half calf skin cost three thousand pounds. The shoes are very comfortable. It takes four months to make these shoes.
He also said that he has a penchant for suits. He said he spends around 200,000-300,000 pounds on suits every time he goes to London. He prefers Super 200 suits or Super 180 suits. He buys them from Canali in the Bond Street of London. He chooses the suits at the shop. Then the company delivers the suits to his home.
Properties galore
The Al Jazeera report says the I Unit has been following Saifuzzaman long before the upheaval that ousted the Awami League government.
The report says, “A Bangladeshi minister on a USD 13,000 salary has a master property empire in Britain. The I Unit set up an undercover team to investigate the allegations.”
The I Unit found evidence of a remarkable amount of assets owned by Saifuzzaman. The source of Saifuzzaman's wealth in Bangladesh is his business and shares in UCB Bank.
According to the monetary policy in Bangladesh, citizens are not permitted to take more than $12,000 abroad in a year. The policy is intended to protect the economy of Bangladesh.
Shahdeen Malik, a lawyer of the Supreme Court in Bangladesh, said the foreign exchange reserves of Bangladesh have depleted significantly. If someone takes money abroad without the permission of the Bangladesh Bank, it is considered an offence under the money laundering prevention act.
According to the Al-Jazeera report, Saifuzzaman set up a number of companies to buy houses from developers in London. Between 2016 and 2021, he purchased 265 houses in the UK, and those were mostly bought from top developers like the Berkeley Group.
In 2021, he acquired some more properties in London at a cost of $16 million, and most of the properties have been rented out. In 2020 alone, he purchased 89 houses. The total number of houses owned by him now stands at 360, with a market value of $320 million.
The report noted that politically exposed persons (PEPs) are expected to face strict scrutiny in the UK. An investigative team of Al-Jazeera visited a property of Saifuzzaman Chowdhury to find out how he passed the scrutiny.
His associate Ripon Mahmud said, “Our client has over 300 homes in London alone. He comes to London, buys a few homes, and then he jets off. During lockdown, he spent £200 million just on new homes in the UK.”
Saifuzzaman Chowdhury said he bought all the properties in London through Ripon. “He is my main guy… and he is my brother. I do not deal with anybody else. I trust him.
Regarding Ripon Mahmud, Saifuzzaman Chowdhury said that Ripon had facilitated the purchase of all his properties in London and the UK. Ripon is his key associate and also his 'brother'.