Ex-land minister under Awami League regime Saifuzzaman Chowdhury Javed, his wife Rukhmila Zaman, herself an ex-chairperson of United Commercial Bank (UCBL) and 29 others were sued on Thursday over allegedly embezzling and laundering Tk25 crore from UCBL.
"Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Deputy Director Md Moshiur Rahman lodged the case at ACC’s Chittagong District Office-1 on Thursday," said Subel Ahmed, deputy director of the office.
The others accused in the case include Javed's brother Asifuzzaman Chowdhury, sister Roxana Zaman Chowdhury, 13 former UCBL directors, six former officials, and nine employees of the Aramit Group, which the Chowdhury family owned.
According to the case statement, the accused used five fraud companies-Vision Trading, Alpha Traders, Classic Trading, Model Trading, and Imperial Trading which were opened under the names of Aramit Group employees to secure term loans from UCBL’s Chittagong Port Branch.
Despite 17 objections raised by the bank’s internal credit committee, the UCBL board approved Tk25 crore in such loans on March 8, 2020, allegedly under pressure from the bank’s top leadership.
“The funds, claimed to be for importing wheat, chickpeas, turmeric, and peas, were later funnelled into four other accounts within the same bank and siphoned abroad,” ACC said.
Javed served as state minister for land from 2014–2018 and as full minister from 2019–2023.
Ahead of the 2024 election, allegations surfaced of his vast overseas assets, particularly in the United Kingdom. Media reports claimed he fled to London with his family in August 2024, just before the government fell.
Over 300 such properties have subsequently been frozen by the UK's National Crime Agency. The value of these properties has been estimated in excess of $230 million.
