The National Board of Revenue's Central Intelligence Cell (CIC) on 29 September requested the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms to stop the transfer of shares of seven major companies over allegations of tax evasion and financial irregularities levelled against those.
The letter was signed by CIC's Director General Ahsan Habib, as per several media reports.
The companies are: Bashundhara Group, Orion Group, Summit Group, Beximco Group, S Alam Group, Nassa Group and Third Wave Technologies Ltd (Nagad).
According to Section 223 of the Income Tax Act, 2023, the NBR holds the power to take the necessary steps for interim attachment of property to prevent tax evasion, the letter read.
There are allegations of financial irregularities, including tax evasion, against these companies per the ongoing investigation.
The NBR’s directive follows a request made over a month ago for banks to provide account details of the heads of five major business groups to assess their tax compliance.
It sought information on term deposits, savings accounts, current accounts, loan accounts, foreign currency accounts, credit cards, lockers, and vaults owned by these business leaders and their family members, starting from July 1, 2015.
The CIC had earlier launched a probe against the owners of Beximco, Bashundhara, Summit, Orion, and NASA.
The intelligence cell issued letters to banks and financial institutions seeking information on the transactions of Beximco Group owner Salman F Rahman, Bashundhara Group Chairman Ahmed Akbar Sobhan, Summit Group Chairman Muhammed Aziz Khan, NASSA Group Chairman Nazrul Islam Majumder, Orion Group founder Obaidul Karim and their family members.
The commissioner of Tax Zone-15 of the NBR's tax department sent a letter to all the banks seeking information on the bank accounts.
Ahsan, who took over as the director general of the CIC on Saturday, was the commissioner of the tax zone at the time.
The tax zone also sought information on credit cards in the name of Saiful Alam's family members at the time.
