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Published : 13 Aug 2025, 03:19 AM
Bangladesh has identified 101 individuals suspected of laundering over Tk 2 billion each, Finance Advisor Salehuddin Ahmed has said.
Pressed on whether repatriation could be achieved before his term ends in February, he cautioned that the process “takes time” but said work is advancing on 11 priority cases.
“Those involved have been identified. We have signed MoUs to enable recovery,” he noted at a press conference at his ministry on Tuesday, marking one year of the interim government.
Describing the complexity of tracing flows, he said launderers use extensive layering across jurisdictions.
“We have identified who did it and where the money ultimately sat. We are now following a legal route to bring it back.Bangladesh Bank asking is not enough for the Bank of England to send the money.”
The former central bank chief said several properties in London linked to one individual have been seized, and authorities are pursuing action in Singapore against another.
He added that suspects have retained “top global lawyers”, and the government is working to counter them and trace assets through legal counsel.
Framing the actions as a warning for the future, he said: “This was not done in the past 15 years. If a future government pursues this, the 11 cases could quickly become 22. Such steps were never taken before.”
Citing an IMF disbursement of $1.3 billion, Salehuddin contrasted it with alleged illicit outflows, claiming “one person alone took Tk 40,000 crore [400 billion].
“Had that money not left, we would not have needed the IMF funds, this is our money.”
He added that assets of several major corporate groups, including S Alam, Bashundhara and Beximco, have been seized domestically.
“We have identified 101 people who moved more than Tk 200 crore [2 billion] each. Together, this runs into the thousands of crores,” he said.
