Dhaka Bureau: Writ in High Court seeking investigation into the illegal assets of former Lands Minister Saifuzzaman A writ has been filed in the High Court seeking an investigation into the illegal assets of former Lands Minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury. The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has been made a respondent in the writ.
On May 9, Supreme Court lawyer. Salahuddin filed this writ in the public interest.
The report was published in Jatiya Daily under the title ‘Former Land Minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury’s Empire in the UK’. A writ has been filed with the High Court attaching the report. A property on a private residential street in north-west London sold for $13.8 million (Tk 152 crore) in 2022, the first part of the report said. A row of white townhouses in one of the most affluent areas of the UK capital, a stone’s throw from Regent’s Park and Lord’s Cricket Ground. A property marketing company photo shows floor-to-ceiling windows, spiral staircases spanning several floors, theaters, and gymnasiums.
The house is currently valued at over 180 crore rupees (£1.3 crore), according to property platforms. The house is owned by former land minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury Javed of Bangladesh. However, according to the laws of Bangladesh, no citizen, resident, or government employee of the country can take more than 12 thousand dollars (13 lakh, 17 thousand rupees) out of the country in a year. Bangladeshi law also has various restrictions on the transfer of funds abroad by corporations. Allowed only subject to fulfillment of certain conditions.
Saifuzzaman Chowdhury Javed served as land minister for five years until last January. Since 2016, the company he owns has built a real estate empire in the UK by buying over 350 properties worth around 200 million British pounds (Tk 2,770 crore). The figures were obtained by the Bloomberg news agency based on UK Company House corporate accounts, mortgage charges, and HM Land Registry transactions.
Bloomberg’s nearly 2,500-word investigative report also said his empire spans from luxury apartments in central London to the Hamlets, the largest residential tower for the Bangladeshi community in England, and student accommodation in Liverpool. An analysis of Javed’s nearly 250 properties shows that nearly 90 percent are bought new.
