Close associates of Bangladesh’s ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina are reportedly selling, mortgaging, or transferring their United Kingdom-based properties while under corruption investigations at home, according to an investigative report by British daily The Guardian in collaboration with Transparency International.
Based on data from the UK Land Registry, at least 20 property transaction applications tied to individuals under investigation in Bangladesh were submitted over the past year.
The investigation reveals that high-profile figures—including members of powerful business families and political elites—have been actively moving assets in London and other parts of the UK after student-led protests erupted in Bangladesh in July last year, eventually leading to the fall of the Hasina government.
These transactions are raising questions about potential attempts to evade asset seizure while inquiries remain ongoing in Dhaka.
In May, the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) froze assets worth an estimated £720 million (approximately Tk 1,469 crore) belonging to Ahmed Shayan F Rahman and Ahmed Shahriar Rahman, son and nephew respectively of Hasina’s advisor Salman F Rahman. Just weeks later, the NCA also froze assets worth £1.4 billion (about Tk 2,776 crore) linked to former Land Minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, who allegedly amassed over 300 UK properties during Hasina’s tenure.
Among other notable cases, at least three property transactions involved members of the Bashundhara Group’s owning family, including Ahmed Akbar Sobhan and his son Sayem Sobhan Anvir. One of the assets is a four-story townhouse in Knightsbridge, London, which changed hands twice in a short span. As of April 2023, it was directly owned by Anvir. Another luxury mansion in Virginia Water, Surrey, worth about £10 million, was also subject to recent transaction requests.
The UK Land Registry has recorded multiple transfer applications involving Saifuzzaman’s brother, Anisuzzaman Chowdhury, including the sale of a Georgian townhouse near Regent’s Park valued at around £13 million. His lawyers claimed there is no legal basis for asset seizure and that the transactions occurred before any formal investigation.
Additional reports indicate that the chairman of United Commercial Bank in Bangladesh urged the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to probe whether Saifuzzaman facilitated irregular loans for a UK-based developer, who is now under travel restrictions in Bangladesh.
Legal and ethical concerns are also emerging regarding the role of British law firms and advisors who may have assisted in facilitating these property transfers despite the owners being under scrutiny. This has triggered calls for stronger due diligence measures within the UK’s property and legal sectors.
Bangladesh’s interim government officials, including Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H. Mansur, have requested the UK government to freeze further property transactions until investigations are completed. “Preventing such transactions will increase the chances of recovering the assets through legal procedures,” he said.
British MP Jo Powell, who chairs the cross-party parliamentary group on corruption and taxation, welcomed the NCA`s actions but urged broader and faster enforcement, warning that suspicious assets could be transferred out of reach before due process is completed.
