ACC promises legal action over ‘UK asset transfers’ by Hasina allies

At least 20 applications for such asset transactions have been filed in the UK over the past year, according to a joint inquiry by The Guardian and TI

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has pledged to pursue legal action over the reported sale, mortgage, or transfer of assets in the United Kingdom by associates of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, provided credible evidence is obtained.

The announcement follows a joint investigation by British daily The Guardian and antigraft organisation Transparency International, which revealed that at least 20 applications for such transactions have been filed in the UK over the past year.

Speaking at a regular media briefing on Sunday, ACC Director General Md Akhtar Hossain said: “The assets that have already been frozen or attached by the UK’s National Crime Agency are not meant to be sold or transferred elsewhere.”

He added that the commission is closely monitoring developments and would initiate legal proceedings if definitive proof of wrongdoing emerges.

Hasina’s government was toppled last August following a popular uprising, and several close allies and former officials have since come under scrutiny both at home and abroad for alleged corruption and illicit enrichment.

Meanwhile, international media have reported a boom in Bangladeshi expats selling off or transferring their UK assets.

In May, UK’s National Crime Agency froze assets worth approximately Tk 1.47 billion linked to Ahmed Shayan F Rahman and his cousin, Ahmed Shahriar Rahman. Shayan is the son of Hasina’s former advisor on private industry and investment Salman F Rahman.

Three weeks later, another seizure followed: assets worth around Tk 2.78 billion belonging to former land minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury.

According to a report in The Guardian, several influential Bangladeshis have either sold or transferred their UK-based assets since the July Uprising, and many of them are now under investigation in Bangladesh.

Following the fall of the Awami League government on Aug 5 last year amid mass protests, the ACC launched investigations into politicians, MPs, and powerful business figures.

In addition to filing cases, the agency began seizing assets worth millions, both locally and internationally.

In March, the NCA ordered the freezing of a London flat belonging to Shayan. On the same day, two UK bank accounts belonging to Shahriar were also blocked by judicial order.

In October, a court ordered the seizure of 580 properties, homes, flats, and land linked to Saifuzzaman and his family.

These included 343 properties in the United Kingdom, 228 in the United Arab Emirates, and nine in the United States; alongside two bank accounts in the UAE and one in Bangladesh.