The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has decided to investigate the allegation of money laundering against Bashundhara Group Chairman Ahmed Akbar Sobhan, Managing Director Sayem Sobhan Anvir and others concerned.
According to CID’s Additional Superintendent (Media Wing) Azad Rahman, the CID has decided to investigate the allegations of embezzlement, laundering of thousands of crores of taka through fraud, forgery, duty evasion, VAT evasion, under-invoicing/over-invoicing against various organisations related to Bashundhara Group.
A CID press release revealed that while some of the land used for the Bashundhara Residential Project was approved by RAJUK (Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha), the majority of the land development lacked official approval.
This unauthorised development allegedly involved encroaching on public and government properties, including canals, ponds, rivers, Khas (state-owned) land, cemeteries and execution grounds, using power and financial resources.
Bashundhara Group had allegedly bought land at Tk 20-25 lakh per bigha by adopting fraudulence. It borrowed more than TK 42,000 crore from banks showing the price of per katha land at Tk 3 crore. A significant portion of these funds is suspected to have been laundered to countries like Dubai, Singapore, Cyprus, London, and Malaysia, the release added.
Similarly, there are also allegations surrounding the "Bashundhara Riverview" project, where land was illegally occupied and filled without RAJUK's approval and through the sale of plots to the public and wealthy individuals, the project has collected hundreds of crores of taka in advance lump-sum payments and instalments.
Furthermore, East West Properties Ltd – the flagship unit of Bashundhara Group - is accused of illegally occupying a large amount of land in different blocks of the Bashundhara Residential Area. The value of this land is estimated to exceed Tk 1,50,000 crore.
Bashundhara Group is accused of using fraudulent means to acquire a total of 1,016 acres of land, including 800 acres (2,400 bighas) of government Khas land, canals, and rivers within the Bashundhara Residential Area, as well as 216 acres from the Bhawal Raj Estate.
