NBR uncovers Tk 400bn in laundered assets abroad

Investigators find laundered wealth to 346 overseas properties in seven cities, calling the findings “just the tip of the iceberg”

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has uncovered laundered assets worth nearly Tk 400 billion across several countries following an investigation by its Central Intelligence Cell.

CIC Director General Ahsan Habib briefed Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus on Sunday, reporting that inquiries since January tracked funds siphoned out of Bangladesh into properties spread across seven cities in five countries.

The revelations were shared at the State Guest House Jamuna in the presence of NBR Chairman Md Abdur Rahman Khan. A government statement later confirmed the findings.

Officers also discovered 352 passports in nine countries allegedly bought illegally by Bangladeshis. The countries include Antigua and Barbuda, Austria, Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis, North Macedonia, Malta, St Lucia and Turkey.

The investigators have identified 346 properties bought with smuggled money. Habib said more inquiries are under way, noting international cooperation from at least six agencies.

“What we have now is only the tip of the iceberg,” he said.

He alleged that during Sheikh Hasina’s tenure, money launderers placed loyalists inside Bangladesh Bank’s central database to erase traces of illicit transfers. CIC has since developed the capacity to recover deleted records, he said.

Yunus called the siphoning of national wealth “a grave act of treason” and urged coordinated action by the Anti-Corruption Commission, CIC and police.

“We must set an example so no one dares loot the nation and build assets abroad again,” he said.

He directed CIC to deepen its probes and expand them to other countries if needed, promising full government support in recovering the stolen wealth.