Court orders seizure of S Alam chairman’s land

Staff Reporter :

A Dhaka court has ordered the seizure of 200.26 acres of land, valued at Tk 180.61 crore, belonging to Mohammad Saiful Alam, chairman of S Alam Group, and entities connected to him.
The order was issued on Tuesday by Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Md Zakir Hossain Galib, following a petition from the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).

The petition was filed by ACC Deputy Director Tahasin Munabil Haque, requesting the urgent seizure of the land amid an ongoing investigation into alleged money laundering activities involving Saiful Alam and individuals or entities linked to him.

According to the petition, a joint inquiry and investigation team has been formed to probe allegations that the S Alam Group chairman and his associates embezzled funds by securing unauthorised loans from various banks under fictitious or proxy names.

These funds were allegedly used to acquire massive assets both in Bangladesh and abroad, in the names of Saiful Alam and his family members.

The ACC further stated that evidence suggests efforts are underway to transfer or dispose of the properties in question.

If the properties are transferred before the conclusion of the investigation, recovering them later would be extremely difficult.

Hence, the commission argued, the urgent freezing of these immovable assets was necessary to ensure justice.

After hearing the petition, the court granted the order to seize the properties, marking a significant development in the ongoing probe into high-profile financial crimes in the country.