CID to probe money laundering allegations against Bashundhara Group chairman, MD

Criminal Investigation Department is going to investigate money laundering allegations against Bashundhara Group’s Chairman Ahmed Akbar Sobhan, Managing Director Sayem Sobhan Anvir, and others.
CID’s Superintendent of Police (Media) Azad Rahman confirmed the development to The Daily Star
Citing various sources, the CID in a press release today, said although some parts of the proposed land for the Bashundhara Residential Project received approval from RAJUK, the majority had not.
Allegedly, through their influence and financial power, Bashundhara Group has implemented the project by illegally filling in public and government properties, such as canals, wetlands, rivers, government land, fallow land, cemeteries, and memorial sites.
In the case of “Bashundhara Riverview”, there are accusations of illegal land grabbing and filling without the RAJUK’s approval, followed by selling plots to affluent members of society through advance payments or instalments, raising hundreds of crores of taka, it said.
“There have also been allegations of massive land grabbing in various blocks of the Bashundhara Residential Area by East-West Property Ltd, with an estimated value of over Tk 1.5 lakh crore.”
Bashundhara Group has reportedly employed various fraudulent means to take control of this land. Additionally, the group is accused of illegally seizing 800 acres (2,400 bighas) of government land, canals, rivers, and 216 acres of the Bhawal Raj Estate, totalling 1,016 acres, it said.
According to the sources, Bashundhara Group has taken loans amounting to over Tk 42,000 crore from several scheduled banks in the country by showing an inflated value of land purchased at Tk 20-25 lakh per bigha, showing it as worth Tk 3 crore per katha, the CID said.
“Much of this money is alleged to have been laundered to Dubai, Singapore, Cyprus, London, Malaysia, and other countries. Ahmed Akbar Sobhan’s eldest son, Sadat Sobhan Tanvir, oversees the Bashundhara Group office in Singapore,” the CID said.
Despite taking thousands of crores in loans by presenting various projects, there are claims that the group has not repaid these loans, it added.
There are also allegations against Bashundhara Oil & Gas (Keraniganj, Dhaka) of importing around Tk 2,000 crore worth of bitumen through trade-based money laundering, subsequently monopolising the market by manipulating prices with a powerful syndicate, the CID said.
“Sayem Sobhan Anvir, MD of Bashundhara Group, is reported to be a key figure in a gold smuggling syndicate. Information has emerged that this syndicate creates artificial shortages, often destabilising the country’s gold market,” added the CID.
The CID said they have decided to investigate money laundering based on various allegations of fraud, forgery, customs evasion, VAT evasion, and under-invoicing/over-invoicing involving hundreds of crores of taka, with these funds reportedly embezzled and laundered by several Bashundhara Group-affiliated companies.