Nearly a year after Bangladesh’s student-led uprising forced autocratic leader Sheikh Hasina into exile, investigators in Dhaka are uncovering how regime insiders may have laundered millions through luxury UK property. Amid bitter factional politics and economic crisis, the interim government is pressing British authorities to freeze assets tied to former officials under corruption scrutiny.
In May the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) froze £90 million in London real estate linked to members of the Ahmed Shayan Rahman family, following a Guardian exposé. Three weeks later it froze over £170 million in assets belonging to Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, a former land minister accused of amassing a vast 300-property portfolio across Britain.
A joint investigation by the Guardian and Transparency International reveals that since the revolution began, at least 20 Land Registry “applications for dealing” – indicating sales, transfers or mortgage changes – have been lodged on UK properties owned by figures targeted by Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). Transactions include the March transfer of a four-storey Knightsbridge townhouse, once held by Sayem Sobhan Anvir of the Bashundhara conglomerate, to a shell company, Brookview Heights Ltd, and its subsequent sale for £7.35 million. An £8 million mansion in Virginia Water, Surrey, also saw applications filed.
The interim government’s central bank governor, Ahsan Mansur, and ACC chair Mohammad Abdul Momen have urged the UK to extend freezing orders to prevent further asset liquidation and to support repatriation efforts. Interim premier Muhammad Yunus led a delegation to London’s Dorchester hotel in June, seeking UK backing to trace allegedly laundered funds.
Other suspects include Anisuzzaman Chowdhury, Saifuzzaman’s brother, whose central London Georgian townhouse sold for £10 million last July, and an unnamed British-Bangladeshi developer now subject to a Bangladeshi travel ban. The sons and nephew of conglomerate head Salman F. Rahman also hold UK homes, including a £35 million Mayfair apartment frozen by the NCA.
UK law firms such as Jaswal Johnston and Merali Beedle, which handled some of these transactions, have defended their due diligence processes. Transparency International warns that without swift action, suspect funds risk disappearing into the global financial system. ACC officials declined to comment publicly on ongoing inquiries.