Writ seeks HC ban on sale, transfer of S Alam Group assets
The writ also sought directive for submission of the list of all immovable properties of S Alam Group, its shareholders, directors and their family members.
File photo of the High Court division building of the Supreme Court in Dhaka. Photo: Collected
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File photo of the High Court division building of the Supreme Court in Dhaka. Photo: Collected
A writ has been filed with the High Court seeking a ban on the transfer and sale of all movable and immovable assets of S Alam Group.
Supreme Court Lawyer Md Rukunuzzaman filed the writ today (18 September) in public interest.
The writ also sought directive for submission of the list of all immovable properties of S Alam Group, its shareholders, directors and their family members.
Bangladesh Bank governor, finance secretary, law secretary, Anti-Corruption Commission chairman and S Alam Group chairman Saiful Alam have been made defendants in the writ.
Md Rukunuzzaman told reporters that information on the amount of loans taken by S Alam Group from various banks and financial institutions, their current status and liabilities, money smuggled abroad and list of all immovable properties, and instructions for property seizure have been sought in the writ.
The High Court bench of Justice Md Kamrul Hossain Mollah and Justice Kazi Zinat Hoque may hear the writ tomorrow, he added.
Earlier on 28 August, Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur said no one should buy properties that do not have bank mortgages from S Alam Group as depositors would be refunded by banks after selling those.
The governor said anyone who buys S Alam’s assets may face legal challenges.
Meanwhile, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has launched an inquiry into the alleged laundering of Tk1,13,245 crore (approximately $10.7 billion) abroad by S Alam and his associates.
The Financial Crimes Unit of the CID initiated the investigation under the Money Laundering Prevention Act, 2012, on 1 September following the ousting of Sheikh Hasina’s 16-year-long administration on 5 August.
S Alam allegedly laundered Tk95,000 crore abroad after obtaining loans from eight Bangladeshi banks under various names, using false claims of export-import businesses and investments.
Eight banks and two non-bank financial institutions in the country were under S Alam Group’s control until the fall of Hasina’s regime.
