NBR Chairman Badiur Rahman disclosed this to the press yesterday, adding that the undisclosed bank deposits of these people would total to more than Tk 100 crore, but he declined to reveal the actual amount.

Rahman was holding a meeting with tax officials at the NBR office where he invited the journalists as guests.

Following the caretaker government's move against top graft suspects of the country, the NBR in early March asked all banks to freeze the accounts of 55. They include high profile politicians like barrister Moudud Ahmed, barrister Nazmul Huda, Mohammad Nasim, Mosaddak Ali Falu, Nasser Rahman, etc.

"Now we will serve each of them with a notice to pay the due tax against these hidden deposits," NBR chairman told the reporters, "if they do not oblige, we will sue them."

"This move is a continuous process. Whenever we find a suspect, we will follow this process to determine his or her true wealth," Rahman observed.

Asked whether the NBR will try to retrieve the money deposited abroad by the graft suspects, the NBR chairman said, "if we have specific evidence or information, we will surely take appropriate action."

If inconsistencies were found in the known source of income of the government officials in their tax returns and their living standards, the NBR would also take actions against them, Rahman said.

He, however, did not specify the actions, saying that all problems could not be solved overnight.