Spy links and a trail of dirty money
Aniruddha Kumar Roy, a prominent businessman with access to Dhaka’s diplomatic and political circles, has emerged at the centre of allegations involving an Indian intelligence network, forged bank documents, Tk4 crore in disputed Farmers Bank loans and suspicious transactions allegedly linked to former Chief Justice S K Sinha.
His reported business ties with S Alam and former MP Rahmat Ullah have added another layer to questions surrounding his financial dealings and influence.
An investigation into Roy’s activities has raised questions about how a businessman could allegedly move between Bangladesh’s corporate, political, diplomatic and judicial circles while facing allegations of financial irregularities and maintaining undisclosed foreign links.
Intelligence sources allege that Roy secretly worked for India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), using his international business operations as a cover to cultivate contacts among senior officials, policymakers and members of the diplomatic community.
His alleged assignment was to collect sensitive information on Bangladesh’s policy-making process, officials and diplomatic engagements and relay it to the Indian agency.
The allegation, if established, would place Roy’s business activities in an altogether different light – not merely as commercial operations, but as a possible vehicle for maintaining an intelligence network inside Bangladesh.
The investigation also raises questions over Roy’s citizenship status.
Despite obtaining Commercially Important Person (CIP) status in the fascist Hasina regime, he is alleged to have concealed his Indian citizenship and used an Indian passport to move substantial amounts of money abroad.
Sources further allege that he invoked his foreign citizenship and connections whenever he came under pressure over banking, tax or revenue-related matters.
Sinha connection
Roy’s alleged links with former Chief Justice S K Sinha form a particularly significant part of the investigation.
The principal undisclosed investor in Roy’s company, which obtained CIP status under the name FB Footwear, was allegedly Sinha, with Roy acting as his nominee, according to the investigation.
Roy was also reportedly associated with S Alam and former MP Rahmat Ullah.
The Farmers Bank episode provided one of the clearest financial trails.
In 2017, a joint investigation by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and law-enforcement agencies uncovered alleged fraud at Farmers Bank’s Gulshan branch, now operated as Padma Bank.
Investigators found that Tk4 crore in loans had allegedly been obtained in the names of two businessmen using forged documents.
Roy was identified as a key intermediary in the alleged transaction, through which the Tk4 crore was transferred to Sinha’s account by pay orders.
The episode subsequently became part of the ACC’s broader investigation into alleged embezzlement and bribery involving the network.
The commission filed a chargesheet over the alleged Tk4 crore embezzlement and bribery and initiated proceedings concerning allegedly illicitly acquired property.
The alleged money trail did not end with Farmers Bank.
Tk50 crore Ashiyan transaction
During an appeal involving housing company Ashiyan City, investigators also examined an alleged transaction of around Tk50 crore.
Roy was accused of acting as the principal intermediary between Ashiyan City and the then chief justice and of facilitating the movement of funds through both formal banking channels and cash.
The allegations suggest that Roy’s importance to the network extended beyond conventional business dealings: he was allegedly positioned to connect businessmen seeking favourable outcomes with people occupying positions of considerable institutional authority.
Roy was also accused of conspiring with Sinha’s personal secretary, Ranjit Roy, to arrange the illegal transfer of a building in Uttara to Ranjit’s wife. The property allegation subsequently became the subject of legal proceedings.
Ranjit Roy later left Bangladesh for Singapore with his family as the allegations surrounding the network came under increasing scrutiny.
Financial intelligence trail
The Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) and the ACC subsequently moved to examine suspicious accounts, documents and transactions allegedly connected to the network.
Records involving accounts at Farmers Bank and Union Bank were scrutinised as investigators attempted to establish the flow of funds and identify the beneficiaries.
The investigation therefore extends beyond a single disputed loan or property transaction.
It raises broader questions about whether financial institutions, political connections and access to senior officials were allegedly used together to facilitate the movement and concealment of money.
A business empire under scrutiny
Roy’s wider business dealings have also attracted allegations from former associates and members of the business community.
He has been accused of withholding dividends owed to joint-venture partners, forging banking documents and failing to pay billions of taka owed to suppliers in the leather and garment sectors.
His 79-day disappearance from Gulshan in 2017 remains another unresolved episode surrounding his business career.
The disappearance was initially portrayed as an abduction. Former business partners subsequently alleged that it had been staged to escape mounting pressure from creditors and conceal extensive financial irregularities.
Those claims have not been independently established.
Roy’s personal affairs have likewise generated allegations of deception.
He was accused of contracting a second marriage without disclosing his first marriage and subsequently attempting to gain control of property and land belonging to his second wife’s family.
The dispute reportedly caused substantial financial and personal harm to the family.
Taken together, the allegations raise a larger question: was Roy simply a businessman who accumulated powerful contacts, or did those contacts form part of a wider system in which commercial influence, political access, financial transactions and alleged intelligence activity intersected?
The available allegations and investigations do not, by themselves, establish that Roy was a RAW operative or that every disputed transaction constituted a criminal offence.
But the combination of the alleged intelligence links, the Farmers Bank money trail, the reported Sinha connection, the Ashiyan City transaction and scrutiny by the ACC and BFIU warrants closer examination.
Attempts to obtain Roy’s response to the allegations – including his alleged RAW links, citizenship status, dealings involving Farmers Bank and Sinha, and reported connections with S Alam and Rahmat Ullah – were unsuccessful. No response was received before publication.
