Staff Reporter :
Mohammad Saiful Alam, owner of S Alam Group, has initiated an international arbitration case, alleging that Bangladesh’s efforts to recover assets allegedly transferred overseas have caused his conglomerate losses amounting to “hundreds of millions of dollars,” according to a report by the Financial Times.
The claim was lodged on Monday (27 October) with the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in Washington. Alam and his family assert that the interim administration under Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus launched a “targeted crackdown,” which included freezing bank accounts, seizing properties, and damaging the value of their businesses.
The dispute could have significant implications for the government’s push to retrieve billions it says were moved abroad during former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year tenure. A government assessment last December estimated the figure at $234 billion.
Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan Mansur, spearheading the recovery efforts, has accused the S Alam Group of transferring some $12 billion out of the country’s financial system—allegations the conglomerate strongly denies.
The family’s legal representatives claim the government pursued “baseless investigations” and orchestrated a media campaign against them. They say the financial losses run into the hundreds of millions, though they have not disclosed a specific compensation figure.
The arbitration is being pursued under a 2004 bilateral investment treaty between Bangladesh and Singapore. Members of the Alam family, who now hold Singaporean citizenship, argue they are entitled to protections under Bangladesh’s 1980 Foreign Private Investment Act.
Mansur has previously alleged that Alam and associates siphoned money overseas through bank acquisitions and inflated import invoices. He has also indicated that the government may be open to negotiated settlements with business figures accused of capital flight.
