Court orders freeze on 45mn Meghna Bank shares belonging to ex-land minister, family

"The action was taken following the court’s order after an investigation found evidence of the purchase of these shares with illegal money," CID says

The Criminal Investigation Department has received a court order to freeze approximately 45 million shares of Meghna Bank belonging to former land minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury Javed, his brother, and others related to them.

In a statement on Wednesday, the CID said: "The action was taken following the court’s order after an investigation found evidence of the purchase of these shares with illegal money."

The Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge's Court ordered the seizure of the assets on Tuesday, following an appeal by the CID.

The court ordered the CID to freeze shares under the names of former land minister Javed, his brother Anisuzzaman Chowdhury Rony, the former director of UCB Bank, and Rony's wife Imrana Zaman Chowdhury, former director of Meghna Bank, following a petition.

Noting the information found during the investigation, the CID said more than 45.33 million shares were purchased through various personal accounts controlled by the accused and in the name of their “on-paper only” company Steadfast Management Trading Limited.

The market price of those shares stood at Tk 599.5 million at the time. Those shares were later added to the stock dividends and the number of total shares rose to 46.4 million.

The accused accumulated huge amounts of illegal money through extortion, fraud and organised crime for a long time, the statement said. "Initial investigations revealed that a portion of this money was laundered abroad through various means and then brought back to the country in an attempt to legalise it."

CID said: “At least $22.2 million was brought back to Bangladesh from July to September in 2022 from Singapore and Dubai. This money was deposited into the FC accounts of UCB Bank and NRBIC Bank through the accused's associate Abul Kashem. Later, a total of Tk 600 million was deposited in the names of Imrana Zaman Chowdhury and Steadfast Management Trading Limited through cash and pay orders."

The money was transferred to a special account at Community Bank and used to purchase shares of Meghna Bank worth Tk 599.5 million, the statement said.

The company named "Steadfast Management Trading Limited" shows Utpal Pal as the managing director and Nasim Uddin Mohammad Adil as the director.

The CID investigation revealed that both Utpal and Nasim were employees and close associates of the Aramit Group, owned by Javed.

The statement noted that the CID Financial Crime Unit has been conducting the investigation. It also said, “The CID's investigation is still continuing to ensure the uncovering of the full details of the crime, identifying other unknown suspects, and upholding the other legal processes.”