The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has filed a money laundering case involving Tk 1,613 crore against former Padma Bank chairman Chowdhury Nafis Sarafat and three others.
The case was filed with Gulshan Police Station on Thursday, CID said in a press release on Friday.
According to CID’s Financial Crime Unit, an initial investigation found that Nafis Sarafat and his associate Dr Hasan Taher Imam obtained a license in 2008 to establish an asset management company named Race Management PCL. By 2013, the firm had secured management responsibility for 10 closed-end mutual funds, which has now increased to 13.
The press release said the accused used these mutual funds for unlawful personal gain, investing the money through Nafis Sarafat, his wife Anjuman Ara Shaheed, and associates to purchase shares of the then Farmers Bank (now Padma Bank), eventually securing positions on the bank’s board of directors. Nafis also strategically facilitated the appointment of his wife as a director of Southeast Bank.
The CID said the accused used fund money to acquire Multi Securities, a brokerage house, and misappropriated large sums through fraudulent trading. They also used Padma Bank’s funds to purchase or invest in units of Strategic Equity (Registration-2007) under the names of individuals associated with Nafis.
Investigators found that the scale of forgery was so extensive that the accused opened and operated multiple BO and bank accounts, secured several Rajuk plots, and established companies and institutions under various names to facilitate illegal transfer of funds abroad.
Following widespread allegations on social and mainstream media, ranging from pressuring investors to buy Tk 500 crore worth of Best Holdings bonds, to money laundering and acquiring properties at home and abroad, CID’s Financial Crime Unit launched a money laundering inquiry.
During the investigation, CID found 78 bank accounts linked to Nafis Sarafat, his wife, son Raheeb Safwan Sarafat Chowdhury, and their associates. These accounts saw deposits totaling Tk 1,809 crore and withdrawals of Tk 1,805 crore. At present, 21 accounts remain active under the names of Nafis, his wife and son, with a current balance of only Tk 29.21 lakh.
CID said the initial investigation uncovered extensive domestic and foreign assets accumulated through fraud, forgery and money laundering. Based on these findings, CID’s Financial Crime Unit filed the case under Sections 2(sha)(5)(6)3(14) and 4(2) of the Money Laundering Prevention Act, 2012 (Amended 2015) against Nafis Sarafat and his three associates.
HKJ
