Mazumder holds assets worth £43m in UK

Nazrul Islam Mazumder, chairman of Nassa Group and a close associate of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina, holds assets worth £43.23 million or about Tk 656 crore in the UK, according to the Anti-Corruption Commission and Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit.

Mazumder owns five properties worth £37.95 million in the upmarket neighbourhood of Kensington in London and two properties valued at £5.28 million in the Isle of Man, a self-governing British Crown dependency in the Irish Sea, found the BFIU, the government agency responsible for investigating money laundering, suspicious transactions and cash transaction reports.

However, details on how Mazumder, who served as the chairman of the private bank owners' forum Bangladesh Association of Banks for 17 years, amassed this wealth abroad remain unclear.

Under existing regulations, Bangladeshi businesses can invest abroad, but only with prior approval from the Bangladesh Bank.

No evidence has been found indicating that Mazumder obtained such approval for his overseas investments.

To date, 20 business entities have received approval from the BB to invest abroad, but Nassa is not one of them.

Following the fall of the Awami League government on August 5 last year, the BFIU launched investigations into various irregularities, including money laundering, loan fraud and embezzlement of government and depositors' funds by over a dozen business groups.

As part of the initiative, the BFIU has sought information from authorities in Singapore, the US and the UK regarding money laundering and overseas wealth accumulated by the business groups.

The financial intelligence units of the three countries have provided relevant information to the BFIU, The Daily Star has learnt from officials involved with the proceedings.

The BFIU has forwarded its findings to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for further action.

In response to the findings, the BFIU has ordered the freezing of Mazumder's and his family's bank accounts.

Mazumder was involved in trade-based money laundering amounting to Tk 16,000 crore, according to the BFIU.

Of the sum, Tk 4,717 crore was taken out from Exim Bank, where Mazumder was the chairman from 2007 to August 29 last year, through 18 shell companies.

Two of the firms -- Flamingo Enterprise and Madina Dates & Nuts, which is owned by Mazumder's son-in-law Mojammil Hussain -- received substantial loans shortly after being established.

Additionally, funds were withdrawn from Exim Bank, which he founded in 1999 with former National Bank banker Shahjahan Kabir, and transferred to Nassa Group officials, with portions of the money used to purchase land.

The BB has commissioned a forensic audit of Exim Bank by global accountancy firm Ernst & Young to assess the bank's asset quality.

Mazumder, who was arrested in October last year in connection with a murder case during the July uprising, remains in jail.

Ranjan Chowdhury, vice-chairman of Nassa Group, has denied all allegations of money laundering and financial misconduct. He described the claims as baseless and lacking factual or legal merit.

"Nassa Group has always complied with BFIU regulations and provided requested information when required. There are no irregularities, no wrongdoing, and certainly no shell companies as alleged."