The Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) of Bangladesh Bank has ordered the freezing of the bank accounts of 11 individuals, including 10 journalists.
The individuals whose accounts have been frozen are: Chowdhury Zafrullah Sharafat, Acting Editor of Daily Bangla; Shafiqur Rahman, former President of the National Press Club; Manjurul Ahsan Bulbul, Chief Editor of TV Today; Sajjad Hossain Sabuj, former Press Minister in Washington; Naznin Munni, Assignment Editor of DBC News; Ashish Ghosh Saikat, Chief News Editor of Independent TV; Anjan Roy, Research Editor of Gazi TV; Komol Dey, Chittagong Bureau Chief of Somoy TV; Abdul Gaffar Khan, Chief Editor of Daily Amar Somoy; Raju Ahmed, former Narayanganj correspondent of Jugantor; and Sanjeev Chatterjee, Head of PR at Exim Bank.
On Sunday, November 24, the BFIU issued a directive to banks to freeze the accounts. The instruction also applies to the bank accounts of businesses owned by the individuals. All transactions in these accounts, including those related to their privately owned businesses, will be suspended for the next 30 days.
The directive highlights that the suspension of transactions will be subject to the relevant sections of the Anti-Money Laundering regulations. The letter issued by the BFIU provides the names and national ID details of the individuals concerned.
Furthermore, the BFIU has ordered that all documents related to these accounts, such as account opening forms, Know Your Customer (KYC) details, and transaction records, be sent to the BFIU within two working days from the date of the letter.
-20241117133242.jpg)
