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An undercover investigation revealed how a politician bought hundreds of homes overseas on an annual salary of $13,000.
Bangladesh’s former land minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury spent more than $500 million on luxury properties in London, Dubai and New York but failed to declare his overseas assets on his Bangladeshi tax returns, Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit (I-Unit) has found.
I-Unit went undercover in Britain to investigate how Chowdhury, 55, from a powerful family in the port city of Chittagong, built a real estate empire despite Bangladesh’s currency laws limiting the amount of money its citizens can take out of the country to $12,000 a year.
Dr Shadeen Malik, a lawyer at Bangladesh’s Supreme Court, told Al Jazeera that the country’s constitution states politicians must declare their overseas assets.
Bangladeshi authorities have frozen Chowdhury’s bank accounts and are currently investigating allegations that he laundered millions of dollars to the UK.
Chowdhury was a close aide to ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled Bangladesh in August after security forces cracked down on student protests, killing hundreds.
After Hasina stepped down as prime minister, Bangladeshi authorities launched an investigation into widespread allegations of corruption within her government.
The Bangladesh central bank subsequently froze the bank accounts of former land minister Chowdhury and his family, while the country’s Anti-Corruption Commission launched an investigation into allegations that he illegally obtained “tens of billions of taka” (hundreds of millions of dollars) and laundered the money in Britain.
Our investigation into #MinistersMillions reveals how a leading Bangladeshi politician built a $500 million real estate empire.
Take a peek inside Saifuzzaman Choudhury’s $14 million London home as he reveals his hidden wealth in front of hidden cameras.
Watch: https://t.co/czUnKORUrN pic.twitter.com/rByTyzrcuU— Al Jazeera Investigations (@AJIunit) September 18, 2024
An I-Unit investigation revealed that Chowdhury had bought 360 homes in the UK alone since 2016.
Anti-money laundering laws consider high-ranking politicians and government officials to be at high risk for corruption because their wealth could represent theft of state funds or bribes to win government contracts.
London real estate agent Ripon Mahmood introduced Al Jazeera’s undercover reporter to the network of London advisers who helped Mr Chowdhury build his property empire: Charles Douglas Solicitors LLP, which represented Mr Chowdhury in refinancing more than 100 property loans, Paresh Raja, who originated hundreds of loans through his firm Market Financial Solutions and other businesses, and Rahul Marde of DBS, the Singapore bank that lent money to the minister.
As a senior politician, he would have been classed as a politically exposed person (PEP) and would have been subject to extra scrutiny and rigorous checks when dealing with estate agents, banks, lenders and lawyers in the UK.
Following the findings, Chowdhury told Al Jazeera that the funds he used to buy the overseas properties came from legitimate businesses outside Bangladesh that he had owned for many years.
Chowdhury fled Bangladesh in August and claims he is the subject of a politically motivated “witch hunt” against people with links to the previous regime.
Law firms Charles Douglas LLP, Market Financial Solutions, Paresh Raja, DBS Bank and Ripon Mahmood told Al Jazeera they had carried out rigorous anti-money laundering checks on Chowdhury and said his funds came from legitimate, long-standing businesses in the United Arab Emirates, the US and the UK, not Bangladesh.
Advisers say recent events in Bangladesh were not provided as information to those conducting historic anti-money laundering and know-your-customer checks, which are standard procedure for financial institutions.
Al Jazeera’s investigative team traces the minister’s wealth and discovers how Choudhury built a $500 million real estate empire.
