Hasina, family members included in list for money laundering probe: BFIU
The Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) has included the names of family members of the ousted Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, in a list of individuals and business groups to be investigated for their alleged involvement in money laundering and other misconduct.
On January 6 this year, the Financial Institutions Division instructed the BFIU to form teams comprising members of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), the National Board of Revenue (NBR), and the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to investigate the country's 10 major business groups for alleged money laundering and other misdeeds.
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Last week, the BFIU restructured these teams and included Sheikh Hasina's family in the list for investigation.
The ACC will lead the task force conducting the investigations, for which 11 separate teams will be formed.
This move comes as the interim government intensifies efforts to recover money allegedly laundered by corporate giants that thrived under Awami League rule. The BFIU, which is providing secretariat services to the task force, has written to the ACC, NBR, and CID to form separate teams to probe the 10 groups and the family members of Sheikh Hasina.
Apart from Sheikh Hasina's family, the individuals and groups under investigation include: S Alam Group, Beximco Group, Summit Group, Bashundhara Group, Gemcon Group, Orion Group, Nabil Group, Nassa Group, Sikder Group, and former land minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury and his family, who own Aramit Group.
These groups and individuals have allegedly laundered money and made unauthorized investments abroad while evading taxes, according to BFIU officials.
Other businesses involved in such crimes will also be investigated in phases, they added.
A government-commissioned white paper committee on the economy estimated that $234 billion was siphoned from Bangladesh between 2009 and 2023.
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