Crime Investigation Department (CID) and Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has filed separate cases on the charge of looting of Tk thousands crore against S Alam group owner Saiful Alam (S Alam), Padma Bank chairman Chowdhury Nafeez Sarafat, Bangladesh Security and Exchange Commission (BSEC) ex-chairman Shibli Rubayat-ul Islam, National Board of Revenue (NBR) ex-member Motiur Rahman and NASA group chairman Nazrul Islam Majumder.
According to the sources of CID and ACC, these hugely discussed people are all the holder of foreign passports and looted Tk of thousands of crore using these foreign passports. Saiful Alam holds passport of Cyprus, Motiur Rahman, Chowdhury Nafeez Sarafat and Shibli Rubayat-ul Islam holds Canadian passports and Nazrul Islam holds passport of USA.
According to CID, investigations have been started against S Alam and his associates for laudering Tk 1, 13, 245 crore abroad. Through fraud and forgery, the suspects including S Alam revoked their Bangladeshi citizenship and within a day took permanent residence (PR) permits in Bangladesh as foreign nationals. They laundered money from Bangladesh to Singapore, Malaysia, Cyprus and Europe and made immovable assets through. In this task, they took assistance of their related persons and institutions. However, the source said that S Alam and his wife Farzana Parveen have taken Cyprus citizenship and passports of that country long ago. According to the CID, S Alam and his associates created a company named Canaly Logistics Private Limited in Singapore with a paid-up capital of US$ 2.234 million. He embezzled Tk 95 thousand crore from six banks in the name of import-export and investment.
On the other hand, ACC said that they have started investigating the complaint over withdrawing Tk 2,460 crore from Islami Bank in November last year. S Alam Group took control of Islami Bank in January 2017. They took a loan of Tk 3000 crore from the three Chattogram branches of the bank in December last year as well. Out of this, the loan amount of M/s Murad Enterprises was Tk 1, 054 crores, the loan amount of United Super Traders was Tk 1, 084 crores and the loan amount of Century Food Products was Tk 1, 119 crores. They are also accused of withdrawing huge amount of money from some branches of Islami Bank in Rajshahi. In addition, the ACC said that the former chairman of Padma Bank, Chowdhury Nafeez Sarafat, is one of the accused in looting the stock market, including the country's banking sector. An investigation is underway against him for embezzlement of Tk 800 crores through bank robbery and loss of money from the stock market. Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) of Bangladesh Bank has frozen the bank accounts of Nafeez Sharafat and his wife and children. On August 22, his BO (Beneficiary Owners) account was freeze by the capital market regulator Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC). CID investigators said that Chowdhury Nafeez Sarafat is also involved in the ownership of asset management company Rais Asset Management Plc. He is also the chairman of the board of trustees of the Canadian University of Bangladesh. He has expanded his business in various sectors including hotel business, power, mobile towers, media in the last decade. Meanwhile, on condition of anonymity, an ACC official said that Chowdhury Nafeez Sarafat took over Padma Bank with the help of top officials of the police and an intelligence agency. Already, letters have been sent to various government agencies including Bangladesh Bank regarding all his irregularities.
Another ACC source said that former BSEC chairman Professor Shibli Rubayat-ul-Islam allegedly received money from a bank account linked to the million-dollar fraud. Javed Matin, convicted of financial fraud in the United States, was involved in defrauding Hong Kong-based supply chain sourcing company Ming Global Limited by foregering more than $13 million over a large period of 2020. Under the guise of investment, the money was sent to two banks of a US-based company called Monarch Holdings Inc. From there, $8 lakh was sent to Shibli Rubayat-ul-Islam's personal bank and another part to a Bangladeshi company's bank; He is also behind running the company. Between June-July 2020, $ 2, 78, 000 were transferred from the company's bank account to the personal account of Shibli Rubayat-ul-Islam. Another $564,000 from Monarch Holdings was bankrolled to a company called Jean Bangla Fabrics. On August 22, all BO (Beneficiary Owners) accounts of Shibli Rubaiyat-ul-Islam, his son Juhayer Sarar Islam and 11 persons were freeze.
ACC investigators said that Motiur Rahman, a former member of NBR, has built several thousands of crores of movable and immovable assets in the name of his two wives, five children and relatives. In the meantime, the location of his immovable assets worth about Tk 500 crore has been found in the country. He got Canadian citizenship and passport while in government service.
CID has started investigation against NASA Group Chairman Nazrul Islam Mazumder. Azad Rahman, Special Superintendent of Police (Media) of the organization, said that an investigation has been started into allegations of siphoning off about 3 million dollars in the United States through trade-based money laundering.
Meanwhile, DB Police arrested Nazrul Islam Majumder in the case filed at Jatrabari police station of the capital on charge of the murder of Emon Hossain Gazi during the anti-discrimination student movement. After the fall of the Awami League government on August 5, Bangladesh Bank restructured the bank's board of directors by removing Nazrul Islam Majumder from the post of chairman of Exim Bank. Before that, he was the chairman of the bank since 2007. Apart from this, he was the president of Bangladesh Association of Banks (BAB), an organization of bank entrepreneurs, for about one and a half decades. After August 5, he was also removed from that duty.
(Translated by Lutful Hoque)
