Suspicious transaction of Tk 8,000 cr

Staff Reporter:

Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has initiated a formal investigation against Eastern Bank Limited (EBL) Chairman Md. Showkat Ali Chowdhury and his family for alleged suspicious transactions worth about Tk 8,000 crore.

The investigation is being conducted by the Prevention of Money Laundering Division.

The complaint states that, Showkat Ali and his family siphoned money abroad through shell companies under the guise of shipbreaking business. Lawyer Kamrul Islam made the complaint in two separate letters to the ACC on September 14 and October 8.

According to BFIU data, between 2012 and 2024, Showkat Ali, his wife Tasmia Ambarin, daughter Zara Namreen and son Jaran Showkat Ali Chowdhury operated 187 accounts in 28 banks.

A total of Tk 8,407 crore was deposited in these accounts till June 2024 and Tk 8,247 crore was withdrawn.

The complaint states that Showkat Ali holds 15 percent stake in EBL, which exceeds the 10 percent limit of the Banking Companies Act. He controls another 5 percent stake through a shell company.

The investigation found that, after the investigation began, family members took initiatives to sell assets abroad. For example, an attempt was made to sell a luxury villa worth about Tk 300 crore on Lansi Island in Dubai.

Inconsistencies were found in the LCs opened in the name of Showkat’s shipping company SN Corporation. Some of the LCs were opened in the name of shell companies registered in the British Virgin Islands, which have the same address and activities are not verifiable. The island is internationally identified as a ‘hotspot’ for money siphoning.

The draft report of the BFIU shows that, transactions of about Tk 4,000 crore have been made in one of Showkat’s Dhaka Bank accounts in the last 13 years. During the same period, the company secretary of EBL withdrew cash from his personal account 125 times.

The daughters and son Zaran also transferred money and invested in the stock market using different accounts, although Zaran declared himself as ‘unemployed’.

As per the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, all the bank accounts of Showkat Ali and his family were frozen on July 1, 2025. The ACC is now verifying the veracity of the allegations through a formal investigation, sources said.

Showkat Ali Chowdhury did not respond, when this reporter made several attempts to contact him for his comment in this regard.

Analysts believe that, the family’s activities, especially the violation of bank transactions and shareholding limits, international transactions through shell companies, the transfer of luxury assets abroad and the unusual increase in cash withdrawals, are the most worrying.

All this evidence is a matter of serious investigation under the ACC and international anti-money laundering standards.