WATCH - Saifuzzaman Chowdhury's half-billion-dollar property empire built on a $13,000 salary.

Al Jazeera's Investigative Unit goes on the trail of The Minister’s Millions to find out how he built a half-billion-dollar property empire - on a $13,000 salary.

Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, a close ally of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, bought hundreds of luxury properties in London, Dubai, and New York but declared none of them to Bangladeshi tax authorities. The former land minister gives a guided tour of his $14m London home; he owns 360 in the UK alone.

Now authorities in Bangladesh have frozen his bank accounts and are investigating claims the former minister laundered millions of dollars into Britain.

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A Bangladesh PEP has $500m worth of property despite a $13,000 PA salary & $12,000 CCY controls.

Al Jazeera Investigative Unit [I-Unit] Published on 20 September 2024 the following revelations about an Undercover sting:-

• Bangladesh’s former Land Minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury spent more than $500m on luxury real estate in London, Dubai, and New York but did not declare his overseas assets on his Bangladesh tax returns,
• Amassed a property empire despite a $12,000 annual limit as part of the nation’s currency laws on the amount a citizen can take out of Bangladesh.
• Chowdhury bought 360 homes in the UK alone since 2016.
• The country’s constitution clearly states that politicians must declare their foreign assets.
• Authorities in Bangladesh have frozen his bank accounts and are now investigating claims Chowdhury laundered millions of dollars into the UK.

London estate agent Ripon Mahmood introduced Al Jazeera’s undercover reporters to a network of London advisers that helped Chowdhury build his property empire:

• Charles Douglas Solicitors LLP, which acted for him in refinancing more than 100 property loans;
• Paresh Raja, who made hundreds of loans through his company Market Financial Solutions and his other businesses; and
• Rahul Marde of Singaporean bank DBS also lent money to the minister.

Chowdhury

• Fled Bangladesh in August and claims to be the subject of a politically motivated “witch-hunt” against people associated with the previous government.
• Chowdhury had been a close ally of removed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled Bangladesh in August after hundreds were killed as security forces cracked down on student protests.

Bangladesh authorities

• After Hasina’s departure, Bangladesh authorities launched an investigation into allegations of widespread corruption in her government.
• The central bank of Bangladesh has since frozen the bank accounts of the former Land Minister Chowdhury and his family.
• At the same time, the state’s Anti-Corruption Commission has started investigating allegations that he had illegally acquired “thousands of crore taka” (hundreds of millions of dollars) and laundered it in the UK.

In response to the findings,

• Chowdhury told Al Jazeera the funds used to buy his overseas properties come from legitimate businesses outside Bangladesh, which he has owned for years.
• Charles Douglas Solicitors LLP, Market Financial Solutions, Paresh Raja, DBS Bank and Ripon Mahmood told Al Jazeera they had carried out robust anti-money laundering checks on Chowdhury. They also said his funds came from legitimate and longstanding businesses in the United Arab Emirates, the United States and the UK, not Bangladesh.
• The advisers say that no information about the recent events in Bangladesh was available to anyone conducting historic Anti-Money Laundering or Know Your Customer checks, which are standard procedures for financial institutions.

Source

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/9/20/how-a-bangladesh-minister-spent-more-than-500m-on-luxury-property