TDS Desk:

Former land minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury Javed has built a “mountain of wealth” in five countries including the UK, USA, ‍and UAE, where Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted in the mass-uprising, knew all of this! In these countries, Saifuzzaman has assets of $67.50 crores or Tk 8,100 crores, reports Al Jazeera’s investigative report.

The report published on the official YouTube channel of the Qatar-based media Al Jazeera on Wednesday (September 18) highlighted detailed information about this great empire of illegal assets of Saifuzzaman Chowdhury. The preparation of this report started in 2023.

Al Jazeera reports that Saifuzzaman created various companies to buy houses in the UK and bought 265 houses in the country between 2016 and 2021. In 2022, he bought 89 houses there! Overall, he owns 360 houses in the UK, worth $25  crores (around Tk 3,000 crore in Bangladeshi currency).

Saifuzzaman got the charge of State Minister for Lands during Hasina regime in 2014 and Lands Minister in 2019. He held this position till 11 January 2024.

In the video captured by Al Jazeera, Saifuzzaman Chowdhury shows undercover investigative journalists around his luxurious and highly secured five-storey house in the UK.

As he shows the house around, he says, “This is our cinema hall this is my new Rolls (Royce)”

Bangladesh Awami League nominated four-term Member of Parliament (MP) said that “he is a very close and trusted person to the Prime Minister (Hasina)”.

“My father was very close to the Prime Minister (Hasina). Honestly me too. She (Hasina) is my boss,” Saifuzzaman told the undercover investigative journalists.

Saifuzzaman took over the UCB Bank of Bangladesh in June 2018 while he was the Land Minister. He lost control of the bank when Bangladesh Bank (BB) dissolved the board of UCB on August 27. His and his wife’s bank accounts in Bangladesh have also been freezed.

In the case of purchasing assets abroad, Saifuzzaman has shown that they are buying those through income from various businesses and bank loans. Although it is shown that the income earned through business in Dubai is used to buy assets in the UK, the report reveals that “the money has been laundered to Dubai from Bangladesh”.

Saifuzzaman never mentioned any of these assets in his annual income tax return or election affidavit in Bangladesh.

Saifuzzaman’s agent in the UK, Ripon Mahmud, told Al Jazeera’s investigative journalists that these investments were “made in small numbers” so that the governments of those countries do not notice.

“He (Saifuzzaman) brought one crore (dollars) and said that I did not buy in cash, the bank gave me the money,” said Ripon.

Saifuzzaman has nine luxury apartments not only in the UK but also in the US. Five of these are in New York metropolitan areas and four are in New Jersey.

Ripon told Al Jazeera that Saifuzzaman invests $100 million through him every year. In Bangladeshi currency, the amount is about Tk 1,200 crores.

Saifuzzaman built a network with bank officials, financiers, lawyers, real estate companies, and agents of those countries through money laundering and foreign investment.

Saifuzzaman also has a lot of wealth in the Middle East country of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. He and his wife Rukhmila Zaman own huge property there. They have at least 54 properties in Dubai!

“I have houses in Singapore and Malaysia,” Saifuzzaman said, describing his wealth in Dubai while speaking to undercover Al Jazeera reporters at his home in the UK. “I have property in New York, Manhattan too.”

He said that the prime minister (Hasina) knew that he had business in these countries.

During the conversation, he said that he buys all luxury products including shoes and suits.

He said that he “bought a pair of shoes worth £3,000 or about Tk 4.5 lakh” and “a suit worth £6,000 or about Tk 9.5 lakh”.

Bangladesh’s monetary policy states that a citizen of the country cannot take more than $12,000 abroad in a year.

When asked about the method of taking huge from Bangladesh to the UK, Saifuzzaman said, “I have a business in Dubai. I do a real estate business there and brought money here from Dubai.”

Explaining how money comes from Bangladesh to Dubai, Ripon told that “money is acquired by showing the business of Bangladeshi companies with Dubai companies”.

Saifuzzaman also said that if Al Jazeera’s undercover journalist wants to take money from China to Dubai, he will try to cooperate in this transaction through “Hundi”.

At one point, Saifuzzaman’s agent Ripon told that “Saifuzzaman has $2 million worth of stock in New York and San Francisco, $195 million have been invested in Dubai, and $300 million have been invested in London”.

The report states that as per Ripon’s information and their research, Saifuzzaman’s total wealth abroad is about $675 million. In Bangladeshi currency, the amount is about Tk 8,100 crores.

Asked for an official comment on these issues, Saifuzzaman claimed to Al Jazeera that these properties were bought with the money of his “legitimate business” and that he is “a victim of political revenge”.