A case of a former Bangladesh minister building property abroad has come to light. The name of this leader is Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, who is a former land minister and is said to be close to Sheikh Hasina.
A case of a former Bangladesh minister building property abroad has come to light. The leader’s name is Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, who is a former land minister and is said to be close to Sheikh Hasina. Chowdhury has spent $500 million on luxury real estate in London, Dubai and New York. However, he has not given details of this in Bangladesh’s tax returns. This has been revealed in Al Jazeera’s report. Al Jazeera’s I-Unit found out about this while being undercover in London.
According to this, 55-year-old Chowdhury belongs to a powerful family of Chittagong. He made huge property in London. Whereas according to the rules of Bangladesh, no citizen can take more than 12 thousand dollars out of the country in a year. Bangladesh Supreme Court lawyer Shahdin Malik told Al Jazeera that it is clearly mentioned in the country’s constitution that it is mandatory for the leaders to give information about their foreign assets.
Authorities in Bangladesh have seized Chowdhury’s bank accounts. Now his properties in London are being investigated. Chowdhury is said to be close to former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Sheikh Hasina had to flee the country recently. After this, an interim government has been formed in the country. Since then, corruption allegations are being investigated in Bangladesh. Al Jazeera’s investigation has revealed that in the year 2016 itself, Chowdhury was able to buy 360 houses in Britain. Many agents have also played a role in building his property in London.
London estate agent Ripan Mahmood introduced Al Jazeera’s undercover reporters to a network of London advisers that helped Choudhry build his property empire. First, Charles Douglas Solicitors LLP, which acted for him in refinancing more than 100 property loans. Second, Paresh Raja, who made hundreds of loans through his company Market Financial Solutions and his other businesses. Then there was Rahul Marde of Singapore bank DBS, who also lent money to the minister.
Chowdhury told Al Jazeera that the money used to buy his overseas properties came from legitimate businesses outside Bangladesh. He said he has owned these businesses for years. Chowdhury fled Bangladesh in August. He claims that the current government is after people of the Hasina government.