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Published : 16 Jun 2025, 08:14 PM
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has written to the UK authorities requesting information about “illegal assets” belonging to two sons of Bashundhara Group Chairman Ahmed Akbar Sobhan - Vice Chairman Safiat Sobhan Sanvir and Co-Chairman Sadat Sobhan.
ACC Chairman Mohammad Abdul Momen informed the media of the decision at a briefing on Monday.
He said, "Today we have sent a few more requests for information to the UK. Among them is information on some of the assets of two of Akbar Sobhan's sons, Safiat and Sadat."
The agency is investigating the family for alleged tax evasion, land grabbing, loan fraud, and money laundering.
Speaking at a press briefing on Monday, ACC Chairman Abdul Momen said they had sent details of several properties to the UK, including those linked to the Sobhan brothers.
The graft-busters are also probing assets linked to Anisuzzaman Chowdhury Ronny, brother of former land minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury Javed, and Adnan Imam, former executive committee chair of NRBC Bank.
The UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) has already seized assets tied to Javed based on ACC findings.
In May, the NCA also froze UK-based assets belonging to Ahmed Shayan F Rahman, son of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s advisor Salman F Rahman, and Shayan’s cousin Ahmed Shahriar Rahman.
To accelerate the recovery of laundered funds, Momen and the Bangladesh Bank governor accompanied Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus during his visit to the UK.
During the visit, UK authorities issued orders freezing 343 properties belonging to Javed, worth approximately £73.15 million, roughly Tk 10 billion. The NCA also froze bank deposits worth about $2.5 million, around Tk 300 million.
Momen added that Bangladesh had issued Mutual Legal Assistance Requests to several countries including the UK, US, Singapore, and UAE.
The NCA has agreed to provide training to the ACC, and an international trainer has already started the process.
Bangladesh has seen limited success in recovering laundered money, and the expenses often surpass the amount recovered by the ACC.
Momen acknowledged these issues, elaborating the legal challenges that cause them.
“Foreign governments often treat laundered money as their territory’s asset. Only when we legally prove it was illicitly transferred from our country do we stand a chance of recovering it,” he said.
He also confirmed that some assets have been smuggled to the Cayman Islands.
