British MPs have urged regulators to investigate whether UK companies followed anti-money laundering rules when helping Bangladesh's former land minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury amass a property empire worth $250 million in the UK.

An investigation by Al Jazeera's Investigative Unit (I-Unit) found Chowdhury, a close ally of the now deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, bought over 360 luxury properties in the UK worth $250 million, more than 300 high-end apartments in the UAE worth nearly $170m buying and nine properties in the US worth $20 million.

Chowdhury, who has a travel ban on him by the Bangladesh government, is currently living in one of the luxury properties, a $14 million townhouse in London's upscale neighbourhood of St John's Wood, according to I-Unit.

He was filmed in London walking past a luxury apartment block, where he owns six properties worth over $9 million, a small part of his UK property empire. 

Over in Bangladesh, he is under investigation by the Anti-Corruption Commission for amassing assets abroad worth crores of taka through corruption and irregularities. His bank accounts have been frozen.

Labour MP Phil Brickell, who is on the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on anti-corruption, has urged HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), the Financial Conduct Authority (FDCA) and the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), to ensure that British estate agents, law firms and lenders had abided by their regulatory obligations in Chowdhury's property deals.

Brickell called on the three regulators to ensure that companies involved in the transactions "undertook adequate checks on the source of Mr Chowdhury's wealth and funds", Guardian reports.

He wants regulators to check whether UK firms filed "suspicious activity reports", which they must submit to law enforcement if they are concerned about potential money laundering, and whether they may have committed a criminal offence if they failed to do so.

"Showing that the UK is serious about making London the anti-corruption capital of the world requires proactive, swift and robust investigation where allegations of these kinds emerge," he said in the letters seen by the Guardian.

A spokesperson for the SRA told the Guardian: "We take the issue of potential breaches of money-laundering regulations very seriously and will take action if we find firms are not meeting these obligations."

The FCA and HMRC declined the Guardian's request for comment.

Meanwhile, members of the parliamentary APPG on anti-corruption and responsible tax met last week to discuss how to assist Bangladesh in tracking UK assets linked to people under investigation by Dhaka authorities, Guardian reports.

The chair of the group, Joe Powell MP, has written to the National Crime Agency urging it to investigate assets in the UK linked to members of the former Bangladeshi regime, including Chowdhury.

Meanwhile, I-Unit's investigation found Chowdhury's real estate empire in the UAE is bigger than what was reported in its 25-minute documentary The Minister's Millions released in September.

In the documentary, it was said that Chowdhury owns 54 properties in Dubai.

In undercover footage, Chowdhury boasted about owning a penthouse in the prestigious Opera District, and land records confirm he is the listed owner of a luxury apartment there, costing more than $5 million.

Newly leaked property data from 2023 show that Saifuzzaman Chowdhury is the listed owner of more than 250 luxury apartments in the UAE worth over $140 million.

The records reveal his wife Rukhmila Zaman, also under investigation for money laundering in Bangladesh, is the listed owner of another 50 properties in Dubai worth upwards of $25 million.

With the new data leak, it is calculated that Chowdhury and his wife have spent nearly $170 million buying over 300 high-end apartments in the UAE.