Following the demise of the Awami League government in Bangladesh in August 2024, which was triggered by violent quota protests and led to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s exile, the newly appointed banking chief embarked on an urgent mission to trace and recover vast amounts of money that had been illicitly transferred abroad by influential political and business figures. The Bangladesh Bank has established special investigative teams to scrutinize the assets of 11 prominent families implicated in laundering billions of dollars to destinations such as the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, Malaysia, and Singapore over the past decade. One family alone is under suspicion for transferring an astounding sum of $15 billion outside of the country, with a single withdrawal representing nearly 90% of a bank’s total deposits, pushing it to the brink of insolvency.
The new governor of the Bangladesh Bank, Ahsan Mansur, a former IMF economist, is acutely aware of the pressing need to swiftly locate these funds to prevent their permanent loss. He is currently in discussions with the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office and law firms in London to track down and recover an estimated $25 billion in laundered money.
Mansur emphasizes the significance of the UK as a primary location for these assets and expresses determination to raise awareness about the UK’s role as a haven for stolen assets globally. There is an urgent focus on freezing assets in London and Dubai belonging to figures like former Land Minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, who allegedly holds a portfolio worth over $500 million, predominantly in real estate.
Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission has already frozen approximately 40 of Chowdhury’s bank accounts and restricted his travel. Chowdhury denies these accusations, attributing them to a political witch-hunt against members of the previous government, claiming his wealth is earned legitimately.
Mansur also seeks action against the lawyers, bankers, and real estate agents who facilitated the money laundering, considering it a moral imperative for foreign authorities to adopt a harder stance against these activities.
Investigations are proving to be challenging and time-consuming, with an expected timeframe of up to five years to reclaim the laundered funds. Progress has been hindered by the complexity of the task and the cross-border nature of the assets, further complicated by the change in the US administration, which halted funding and the deployment of a team of US investigators to Bangladesh, originally set to assist in these efforts. Mansur is considering amnesty options for those who assist in exposing the kingpins or providing evidence that could help repatriate these stolen assets back to Bangladesh.
Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/3/28/bangladesh-up-against-time-to-find-stolen-billions-central-bank-governor?traffic_source=rss
