NCA freezes London properties owned by IOM companies, connected to the ousted Bangladesh leader Sheikh Hasina.

Britain’s National Crime Agency [NCA] has obtained freezing orders on two London properties owned by the son of an ally of ousted Bangladesh leader Sheikh Hasina, following allegations that her regime embezzled funds.

According to UK company and property filings,

• Ahmed Shayan Fazlur Rahman, the son of Salman F Rahman, a Bangladeshi businessman who acted as an investment adviser to Sheikh Hasina and founded Bangladeshi conglomerate Beximco, owns the properties.
• The filings show that the property assets are
• 17 Grosvenor Square in London, which was purchased for £6.5mn in 2010
• Gresham Gardens, north London, was acquired for £1.2mn in 2011.

IOM

• The filings show that the properties are owned through offshore companies in the Isle of Man.

A spokesperson for Ahmed Rahman said:

• “Our client denies involvement in any alleged wrongdoing in the strongest possible terms.
• He will, of course, engage with any investigation in the UK.”
• “It is well known that there is political upheaval in Bangladesh, where numerous allegations are being made against hundreds of individuals.
• We would expect the UK authorities to consider this.”

It is reported that:-

• Bangladesh Anti-Corruption Commission chair Mohammad Abdul Momen has said that Salman and Ahmed Rahman are suspects in embezzlement investigations.

Also, it has been reported that

• Sheikh Rehana, the sister of Sheikh Hasina and mother of former UK City minister Tulip Siddiq, has lived at one of the properties [the Gresham Gardens property], according to UK electoral roll records. However, it is not clear whether she still resides there.

BACKGROUND

• Sheikh Hasina, who ruled from 2009 until August 2024, was overthrown following student-led street protests against her authoritarian rule. She currently resides in India.
• Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel Prize-winning economist, took charge of an interim government seeking to reform institutions, such as the police, media and the judiciary, that he claims were captured by her Awami League party.
• After last year’s uprising Yunus named Ahsan Mansur, the central bank governor, to oversee an effort to claw back billions of dollars’ worth of money he claims was embezzled by people close to the old regime.
• Yunus’s interim government has frozen accounts and seized assets that some of these people own. It is working with authorities in the US, UK, and other countries to attempt to recover money.
• Supporters of the ousted Awami League, which the Yunus government formally banned this month, have accused the new administration of pursuing political vendettas in its crackdown on alleged corruption by the old regime.
• Siddiq, the niece of Sheikh Hasina and still a Labour MP, became embroiled in the scandal after being named in two corruption probes initiated by the new Bangladesh regime.
• She has denied wrongdoing, but quit in January amid warnings that she risked damaging the reputation of the British government.

• https://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/news/nca-secures-unexplained-wealth-orders-for-prime-london-property-worth-tens-of-millions
• https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/corruption/uks-crime-agency-freezes-ps90m-london-property-linked-former-bangladesh-regime
• https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/uk-crime-agency-freezes-london-properties-salman-f-rahmans-son-shayan-financial-times
• https://www.thedailystar.net/news/corruption/news/uk-freezes-properties-salman-f-rahmans-son-3900986
• https://news.sky.com/story/mcmafia-laws-used-to-freeze-three-london-properties-worth-80m-11730562