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Published : 26 Feb 2026, 03:05 PM
A Dhaka court has ordered authorities to take steps to seize 518 flats in the United Kingdom owned by former land minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury Javed, as part of a widening investigation into alleged money laundering.
Court documents put the value of the properties at £271.85 million.
Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Md Sabbir Faiz issued the order on Thursday following a petition by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
Court bench assistant Riaz Hossain said the application was filed by ACC Deputy Director Md Moshiur Rahman, seeking the seizure of the overseas properties.
According to the petition, a nine-member taskforce comprising officials from the ACC, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), and the National Board of Revenue (NBR) has been formed to investigate the laundering allegations against Javed and his associates and affiliated entities.
As part of the probe, authorities conducted a raid at a house in Chattogram on Sept 21 last year, recovering 23 sacks of documents and evidence linked to the case.
The seized materials were later brought to Dhaka, where they were reviewed, examined, analysed, and categorised.
The ACC said the recovered records included contracts, deeds, payment orders, booking money receipts, cheques, vouchers, and original documents related to the purchase of overseas properties in the names of Pavel and his associated individuals and companies.
The petition states, “After detailed examination of the recovered information and documents, a list of properties acquired in different countries by Saifuzzaman Chowdhury and his associated individuals and entities was prepared.”
It added that records revealed immovable assets in the United Kingdom registered in their names and that seizure was necessary to prevent the properties from being transferred or disposed of.
Javed served as state minister for land from 2014 to 2018 and as land minister from 2019 to 2023.
Ahead of the 2024 election, allegations surfaced that he had accumulated vast assets abroad.
