Court orders freezing S Alam’s Tk8,133cr bank deposits

A Dhaka court has ordered the freezing of bank deposits worth over Tk8,133 crore belonging to businessman S Alam and his family.

Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Zakir Hossain Galib passed the order in response to a plea, confirmed Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Deputy Director Tahasinul Munabil Huq, who filed the petition.

The ACC in its plea stated that the funds were deposited in 227 accounts across various banks and financial institutions, reports BSS.

An ACC source told TBS that the accounts in question are primarily BO (beneficiary owner) accounts. The commission filed the petition to freeze these assets to prevent any transfer or disposal before the investigation concludes.

According to the petition, Saiful Alam and his associates allegedly took out loans from various banks through fraudulent means, embezzled the funds, and accumulated significant wealth both in Bangladesh and abroad.

Citing sources, the ACC in the plea mentioned that Saiful Alam and his family members were attempting to transfer or misappropriate their movable assets. The plea argued that if these assets were relocated before the investigation is completed, recovering the misappropriated funds could become difficult, reports BSS.

Investigations against the S Alam Group have been going on for some time now as it faces allegations of exploiting banking loopholes to secure massive loans worth thousands of crores of taka as well as money laundering.

Earlier, on 12 February, the same court ordered the freezing of shares in 42 companies worth over Tk5,109 crore owned by the S Alam Group chairman and his family members and all profits derived from the shares.

On 30 January, the court also ordered the authorities concerned to confiscate a total of 175 bighas of land, worth Tk368.25 crore, in the names of Saiful Alam and his family.

On 16 January, the same court had ordered the seizure of over 32.10 crore shares across 24 companies, held by Saiful Alam and his family members. The shares are cumulatively worth Tk3,563 crore.

On 14 January, the same court ordered the freezing of 68 bank accounts belonging to S Alam and his family members. The court had also directed the confiscation of 16 properties owned by S Alam.

The ACC, on 10 January, filed a case against 54 people, including two sons of Saiful Alam Masud, over the alleged embezzlement of Tk1,114 crore from the Jubilee Road branch of Islami Bank Bangladesh PLC in Chattogram city.

In addition to the ACC, the National Board of Revenue (NBR), the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU), government intelligence agencies, and other entities are also investigating various irregularities involving the S Alam Group.

According to investigators looking into laundering allegations against the group, its chairman Saiful established 18 shell companies in the British Virgin Islands between 2011 and August 2024, without the required approval from Bangladesh's central bank.