Provide info on bank accounts of S Alam, family

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has asked for bank account details of Chattogram-based businessman Mohammed Saiful Alam and his family members to check if they have been paying their taxes properly.

The NBR wrote to 91 banks and financial institutions to this effect on Wednesday, said Ahsan Habib, commissioner of taxes, Tax Zone-15, an NBR field office in Dhaka, yesterday, adding that the move was part of their "routine job".

In the letters, information on the bank accounts and credit cards of S Alam, his brother Mohammed Abdullah Hasan, mother Chemon Ara Begum, and wife Farzana Parveen have been requested.

Additionally, details about any personal or business accounts jointly held in the names of S Alam's sister, daughter, or son have been sought.

S Alam Group was founded by Saiful Alam in 1985, and has since risen to become one of Bangladesh's largest conglomerates.

The group's business interests range from commodity trade to fishing, building materials to real estate, textiles to media, intercity buses to shipping, and power and energy to banking and insurance.

S Alam's wife Farzana and brother Hasan are directors of S Alam Luxury Chair Coach Service and S Alam Cold Rolled Steel Limited. S Alam's mother, Chemon Ara Begum, on the other hand, is a director of S Alam Luxury Chair Coach Service.

The NBR asked banks that the information be provided as soon as possible.

S Alam he did not pick up our calls yesterday. Subrata Kumar Bhowmick, an executive director of S Alam Group, could not be reached over the phone. He also did not respond to text messages.

The move by the NBR's field office comes in less than two weeks after a mass uprising forced former prime minister Sheikh Hasina to step down, ending her 15-year rule.

There have been various allegations, including money laundering, against S Alam Group, which was one of the industrial groups to benefit during the tenure of the ousted Awami League government.

A year ago, an investigation by The Daily Star found, S Alam built a business empire in Singapore worth at least $1 billion, although there is no record of him taking any permission from Bangladesh Bank to invest or transfer any funds abroad.

Two days later, on August 6, 2023, the High Court, on a suo motu (voluntary) move, directed the authorities concerned to conduct an inquiry into the allegations against S Alam and submit reports in two months.

However, on August 23, the Supreme Court chamber judge put on hold the inquiry against S Alam.

Later, on February 4, 2024, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court discharged the High Court Division's suo moto rule.