Court orders Interpol red notices to be issued against S Alam, two brothers

The ACC believes they have fled from Bangladesh

A Dhaka court has ordered the issuance of Interpol red notices against Mohammad Saiful Alam, chairman of the controversial industrial conglomerate S Alam Group, and his two brothers.

Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Sabbir Faiz issued the order on Wednesday after hearing a petition from the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) in a loan fraud case.

S Alam's two brothers are Abdus Samad, vice chairman of S Alam Group, and Mohammad Abdullah Hasan, a director of the conglomerate.

Tahsin Munabil Haque, the ACC deputy director and investigating officer of the case, applied for the red notices against the three individuals on Sept 16, according to the anti-graft watchdog’s spokesman Aktarul Islam.

The order was issued on Wednesday, he added.

The plea read, "Several attempts were made to arrest the accused during the investigation. However, it came to our notice that they have fled from Bangladesh.

“For this reason, we are petitioning for an arrest warrant to be issued against the three through the home ministry via Interpol."

This case, one of several dozen filed against S Alam, was lodged on Jul 2.

The case alleges embezzlement and money laundering through fraud by taking out a loan of Tk 1.04 billion in the name of M/s AM Trading from Reliance Finance Limited (now Aviva Finance Limited). This money was then cycled through multiple bank accounts and finally transferred to the account of S Alam Super Edible Oil Limited.

Saiful, head of the Chattogram-based business group and known to be close to ousted premier Sheikh Hasina, took control of Islami Bank in 2017. After that, the group allegedly took more than Tk 1 trillion from eight banks under multiple names.