S Alam applies again to renounce Bangladeshi citizenship

Mohammad Saiful Alam, chairman of S Alam Group, has once again applied to renounce his Bangladeshi citizenship.

Following the formation of the BNP-led government, Saiful Alam submitted applications in the last week of February to the home ministry seeking to relinquish the citizenship of himself, his wife Farzana Parveen, and their two sons, Ashraful Alam and Asadul Alam Mahir.

However, due to ongoing legal and financial complications, the government is currently reluctant to approve the application, according to sources at the home ministry. Officials fear that allowing the family to renounce citizenship could complicate efforts to recover allegedly laundered funds, take action against domestic assets and properties, and defend Bangladesh’s position in ongoing international arbitration proceedings.

Multiple officials at the ministry said the government has identified two major risks after reviewing the application. First, Saiful Alam faces allegations of laundering large sums of money abroad.

Approving the citizenship renunciation could complicate legal efforts to repatriate those money. Second, Saiful Alam has filed an international arbitration case against Bangladesh seeking protection for his assets. Officials believe his legal position in that case could be strengthened if his citizenship status changes.

Saiful Alam had previously applied to renounce Bangladeshi citizenship in 2020. His lawyers claim the then Awami League government approved the application. They cite a memorandum issued by the Security Services Division of the home ministry on 19 July, 2020, stating that his application to relinquish Bangladeshi citizenship had been accepted after he acquired citizenship of Cyprus.

However, the legality of that decision was later challenged by Islami Bank Bangladesh PLC through a writ petition filed in the High Court last November. In response, the court suspended the ministry memorandum approving his citizenship renunciation. As a result, the question of Saiful Alam’s Bangladeshi citizenship remains unresolved.

Saiful Alam was known to have close ties with the top leadership of the Awami League government. Allegations have surfaced that he used state intelligence agencies to seize control of banks, secure irregular loans, and launder money abroad. Saiful Alam and members of his family are currently living overseas and have not returned to Bangladesh since the fall of the Awami League government during the mass uprising of 5 August, 2024.

In an interview with the Financial Times in November 2024, then Bangladesh Bank governor Ahsan H Mansur claimed that the S Alam Group had laundered Tk 1.2 trillion out of Bangladesh during Sheikh Hasina’s tenure.

The National Board of Revenue is investigating Saiful Alam’s assets, while the Anti-Corruption Commission is probing allegations of loan irregularities involving Islami Bank. The ACC has already approved three separate charge sheets against Saiful Alam and 12 others.

Attempts were made through multiple channels to contact Mohammad Saiful Alam for comment regarding his renewed application to renounce Bangladeshi citizenship. Several calls were placed to the phone number listed with Bangladeshi banks as a borrower, but he did not answer. Questions were also sent to the email address available on the S Alam Group website seeking his response, but no reply was received.

Lawyer M Abdul Kaiyum, who represented Islami Bank in the writ challenging the earlier citizenship decision, said Saiful Alam claims to have renounced Bangladeshi citizenship in 2020. If that is true, questions arise as to how he continued to obtain bank loans in the names of various companies as a Bangladeshi citizen until 2023, he told Prothom Alo.

He further alleged that Saiful Alam identified himself as a Bangladeshi citizen in a case involving Islami Bank filed in Chattogram last year, but is now seeking to renounce citizenship in order to avoid liability for repatriating funds moved abroad and to claim legal protections as a Singaporean citizen.

On 3 April, the home ministry sought opinions from seven state agencies regarding the family’s citizenship renunciation application. Letters were sent to the ACC, Election Commission, Department of Immigration and Passports, Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit, Special Branch of Police, National Security Intelligence and Directorate General of Forces Intelligence.

The ministry asked the agencies whether approving the application could create complications for the government, whether there are pending cases against the family, and whether they or their companies hold outstanding loans.

Officials said not all reports have yet been submitted. The government will decide its next steps after reviewing them.

Government to contest arbitration case

Meanwhile, Saiful Alam filed a case in an international arbitration tribunal last October challenging certain measures taken during the tenure of the interim government. The current government has decided to contest the case on behalf of Bangladesh.

A hearing is scheduled in the United States on 22 June, and the Attorney General’s Office is preparing for the proceedings by collecting information on the S Alam family and their business operations from various government agencies.

In the case filed with the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, Saiful Alam alleges that the Bangladesh government seized assets and imposed punitive measures against his family over accusations of illicit money laundering, causing losses worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

The arbitration claim further alleges that the interim government deliberately targeted the family through freezing bank accounts, confiscating assets, “baseless” investigations into business activities, and a “provocative media campaign,” actions the family says violated international investment agreements.

The case was filed under the 2004 bilateral investment treaty signed between Bangladesh and Singapore. According to legal filings, members of the S Alam family claim they renounced Bangladeshi citizenship in 2020 and acquired Singaporean citizenship between 2021 and 2023. They argue that, as Singaporean citizens, their investments in Bangladesh are protected under international agreements.

Government policymakers said that although the case originated during the interim government period, the current administration will continue to defend Bangladesh’s position legally.

On 12 May, the Attorney General’s Office wrote to the Department of Immigration and Passports seeking updated information on Saiful Alam’s national identity card and passport status. The department replied the following day, saying that although the passports of Saiful Alam, his wife Farzana Parveen, and son Asadul Alam Mahir had expired, they remained active in the system.

Their e-passport and machine-readable passport records are still stored in the department’s database. However, no passport information was found for Ashraful Alam.

Additional Attorney General Mohammad Arshadur Rouf declined to comment in detail, citing the matter’s sub judice status, but confirmed that Bangladesh would contest the case.

Earlier, during the interim government period, authorities approved the appointment of a British law firm to represent Bangladesh against the arbitration case filed by Saiful Alam and his family. The decision and related expenditure were approved at a meeting of the Advisory Council Committee on Government Purchase on 3 February.

Home Secretary Monzur Morshed Chowdhury told Prothom Alo on Saturday that the government had completed all necessary preparations to fight the case.

Cyprus or Singapore?

Questions have also resurfaced over which country’s citizenship Saiful Alam currently holds.

In 2020, he sought to renounce Bangladeshi citizenship on the grounds that he had acquired Cypriot citizenship. But in the arbitration case filed last October, he identified himself as a Singaporean citizen.

Officials at the home ministry said Singapore generally requires applicants to renounce previous citizenships before naturalisation. However, Bangladesh has no information on whether Saiful Alam later relinquished his Cypriot citizenship, when that may have occurred, or exactly when he became a Singaporean citizen.

Documents held by the home ministry show that the Cypriot government issued a passport to Saiful Alam in 2016.

A ministry document dated 6 August, 2020, also states that Saiful Alam, his wife Farzana Parveen, and sons Ashraful Alam and Asadul Alam Mahir had obtained Cypriot citizenship.

Meanwhile, a November 2024 report by the Financial Times stated that the S Alam family acquired Singaporean citizenship between 2021 and 2023 after renouncing Bangladeshi citizenship in 2020.

However, Saiful Alam’s legal representatives did not specify exactly when he became a Singaporean citizen. The Singapore government did not respond as well.

Under Bangladeshi law, a citizen remains a Bangladeshi national unless they formally renounce allegiance to the country through procedures administered by the home ministry.

Although Saiful Alam submitted a fresh application in late February seeking to renounce citizenship, the government is proceeding cautiously given the ongoing court dispute and international arbitration case.