In a bid to ensure tax compliance, the government has blocked the transfer of shares of seven corporate giants that thrived under the Awami League government.

The companies are Bashundhara Group, Orion Group, Summit Group, Beximco Group, S Alam Group, Nassa Group, and Third Wave Technologies, now Nagad Ltd.

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) yesterday directed the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies & Firms (RJSC) to immediately freeze any sales or transfers of shares by these companies through donations or other means.

The NBR has the authority under the Income Tax Act to block or seize taxpayers' properties temporarily to prevent tax evasion, says a letter NBR's Central Intelligence Cell (CIC) wrote to the RJSC.

"There are serious allegations of tax evasion and other financial irregularities against these companies. Your cooperation is crucial for the national interest," reads the letter.

Following the directive, the RJSC blocked share transfers by the owners of the companies associated with the corporations.

The RJSC official identified more than 300 firms connected to owners of these business groups and their family members, said a senior official, requesting anonymity.

"We have barred share transfer of the companies owned by people like Mohammed Saiful Alam and Salman F Rahman, their children, and spouses as per the directive," the official said.

In his reaction to the NBR move, Orion Group Managing Director Salman Obaidul Karim told The Daily Star that his company is "fully committed to transparent business practices".

He believes if the NBR conducts an in-depth investigation, it will find no financial irregularities like tax evasion.

Mohsena Hassan, head of public relations of Summit Corporation Ltd, said the company has "never done any irregularity of any nature, certainly not in finance".

Mentioning Summit's investments in different sectors, she said, "Summit brings goodwill and investment for and to Bangladesh. Such bracketing of Summit with other companies destroys Summit's ability and Bangladesh's goodwill."

"While Summit is not contemplating any sale or transfer of shares, for good order, we have already written to the authorities to remove our name while the NBR may investigate to the fullest extent," said Mohsena.

Tanvir A Mishuk, founder of Nagad Ltd, said, "This is an abnormal situation for us. To me, it seems a new plot has been orchestrated by an influential group to destroy Nagad by including its name on the list."

He said Nagad is very transparent when it comes to taxes. "How can a company that has consistently received awards for paying VAT be accused of tax evasion? And as Nagad is yet to make profit, corporate and other taxes do not apply to us. So, how can we evade taxes?"

A Bashundhara Group spokesman did not take phone calls for comments. This correspondent also tried to get comments from Beximco and S Alam by phone calls and texts but could not reach them.

More than a month ago, the NBR had asked for bank account details of the heads of five major business groups to assess their tax compliance.

They are Salman F Rahman, vice-chairman of Beximco Group; Nazrul Islam Mazumder, chairman of Nassa Group; Mohammed Aziz Khan, chairman of Summit Group; Ahmed Akbar Sobhan, chairman of Bashundhara Group; and Mohammad Obaidul Karim, chairman of Orion Group.

Salman and Nazrul are behind bars in cases over killings during the student-led movement that toppled the AL government on August 5.

In a separate move in August, the NBR asked banks for account details of Chattogram-based businessman Mohammed Saiful Alam, chairman of S Alam Group, and his family members.

In August, the tax authority said the CIC had launched a special inquiry into allegations of tax evasion against individuals who had amassed significant wealth. A senior official working in a field office of taxes said the CIC has already summoned tax files of all these business groups as part of its investigations.