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Published : 17 Jul 2025, 12:48 AM
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has filed two cases against former Padma Bank chairman Chowdhury Nafeez Sarafat bringing charges of embezzlement through the “transfer of the bank’s office” and money laundering “involving a Gulshan plot”.
ACC Director General (Prevention) Md Akhtar Hossain gave this information to journalists on Wednesday.
The ACC says 10 people, including Nafeez, have been accused in a Padma Bank case over embezzling more than Tk 660 million.
In another case, Nafeez, alongside former public works minister Mosharraf Hossain and three others, faces charges of laundering over Tk 40 million through a Gulshan plot transfer.
The anti-graft agency said Mosharraf’s involvement was found during the investigation of the cases. He was arrested in October 2024.
The investigation report mentions that following an application by Nafeez, plot No. 22/5 of CEN (D) Block in Gulshan upscale was given a “Commercial (FAR)” facility.
This facility was obtained by influencing the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK) chairman with the help of the then housing and public works minister, Mosharraf, without RAJUK’s approval.
The report says Nafeez transferred the head office and Gulshan branch of Padma Bank to this building through his company, Dynasty Homes Limited.
He received at least Tk 140 million in advance and embezzled over Tk 665.1 million in total, including the building’s construction cost.
The ACC says its investigation found that Padma Bank violated Bangladesh Bank’s Circular No. 12, issued on Jun 15, 2012, by signing a rental agreement with Dynasty Homes and relocating its Gulshan-2 branch and head office to the Finance Square building.
The accused in this case are Nafeez, his wife Anjuman Ara Shahid, their son Rahib Safwan Sarafat Chowdhury, former chairman of Dynasty Homes SK Mehedi Hasan, former managing director Farhana Monem, Rimon Karmakar, Dalia Chowdhury, Sajid Haque, Amani Nawar Chowdhury, and Padma Bank Managing Director Tarek Reaz Khan.
The second case alleges that Anjuman transferred plot No. 22/4 in Gulshan by declaring a Heba [a legal gift of property under Islamic and civil law] in her “minor” son Rahib’s name.
Nafeez, with Mosharraf’s help, again influenced the RAJUK chairman and secured commercial approval for the plot without RAJUK’s official clearance.
The case alleges that Anjuman laundered Tk 45.2 million by disguising its illegal origin, while Rahib concealed the source of Tk 4.5 million by issuing a pay order to RAJUK without having any income tax documents in his name, constituting money laundering.
Although his name repeatedly came up in the financial sector irregularities during Hasina’s last three terms, he remained untouched.
The tide turned with the Awami League government toppled in a mass uprising in August 2024.
The ACC started peeling back the layers of his operations.
The central agency responsible for preventing money laundering, the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU), the Criminal Investigation Department of police and the BSEC, also joined the investigation against him.
Before the fall of the Awami League government, he resigned from Padma Bank in January 2024 amid allegations of irregularities and a loan scandal.
Farmers Bank went through a change of ownership in 2017 when it was about to be shut down amid irregularities and loan scams.
In the face of pressure, Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir, an Awami League Presidium member, had to step down from the post of chairman.
Nafeez, also chairman of the board of trustees of RACE Asset Management PLC and the Canadian University of Bangladesh, assumed the role of chairman the next year.
The Farmers Bank was rebranded as Padma Bank in January 2019.
In August 2024, the ACC launched an investigation into allegations that Nafeez embezzled Tk 8 billion by taking over the bank and siphoning funds from the stock market.
Following this, the court ordered the freezing of bank accounts belonging to Nafeez and his family, and issued orders to seize their flat, plot, building, and land, including a flat and villa owned by Nafeez in Dubai.
