Court orders to freeze 124 bank accounts of Hasina, Rehana
Staff Reporter :
A Dhaka court has ordered the seizure of plots, houses and flats belonging to Sheikh Hasina, her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy, daughter Saima Wazed Putul, Sheikh Hasina’s sister Sheikh Rehana, her son Radwan Mujib Siddique and daughter Tulip Rizwana Siddique.
The order was issued by Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Md Zakir Hossain Galib on Tuesday following a petition from the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
ACC spokesperson Akhtarul Islam confirmed the media that accounts belonging to Hasina’s son Sajeeb Wazed Joy and daughter Saima Wazed have also been frozen.
The assets include the confiscation of Sudha Sadan, Sheikh Hasina’s private residence in Dhanmondi, which is registered under her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy and daughter Saima Wazed Putul.
Other seized properties include a 2,436 sq. ft. flat in Gulshan under Tulip Siddiq’s name, a Segunbagicha apartment under Sheikh Rehana’s name, 10 decimals of land in Kaliakair, Gazipur, and six flats in Gulshan under Radwan Mujib Siddiq’s name.
The Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) has frozen Tk635.14 crore across these accounts.
Bangladesh Bank revealed these details at a meeting on anti-money laundering chaired by Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus.
Additionally, BFIU has frozen a 60-katha plot under Rajuk valued at Tk1.80 crore, a 10 per cent landholding worth Tk8.85 crore, and eight flats linked to Sheikh Hasina, her family, and their associated individuals and entities.
At a subsequent press briefing, Chief Adviser’s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam disclosed that assets linked to Hasina’s family have been traced in the United States, United Kingdom, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and the Cayman Islands.
A Russian “slush fund” has also been identified in a Malaysian bank account, said the CA press secretary.
In a separate ruling, the court has barred Sheikh Hasina and her family members from leaving the country amid allegations of massive embezzlement in the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant project.
The court order also applies to her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy, daughter Saima Wazed Putul, sister Sheikh Rehana, and Rehana’s three children – Tulip Siddiq, Azmina Siddiq, and Radwan Mujib Siddiq.