BO accounts of five former ministers and their families of 20 people were seized

Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) has seized the beneficial owners (BO) accounts of 20 people, including five former ministers and state ministers. However, only money can be deposited as these BOs while they are seized. Besides, no other activities including money withdrawal can be conducted.

On Thursday (August 29) their BO accounts were suspended on the orders of the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU). The capital market regulatory body Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) ordered the seizure of these BO accounts. Central Depository Bangladesh Limited or CDBL, the institution keeping BO accounts of the share market, has been asked to implement this directive.

The persons whose BO accounts were seized are- Former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and his wife Lutful Tahmina Khan, son Safi Mudasser Khan, daughter Shafia Tasneem Khan, former Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud, his wife Noorun Fatema Hasan, daughter Nafisa Jumaina Mahmud, former Minister of State for ICT Junaid Ahmed. Palak, his wife Arifa Jasmine Kanika, former Minister of State for Information Mohammad Ali Arafat, his wife Sharmin Mustari, former Lands Minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury Javed, his wife Rukhmila Zaman Chowdhury, his relative Zara Zaman, his sister Roksana Zaman Chowdhury, his brother Anisuzzaman Chowdhury and his daughter Jeba Zaman Chowdhury, Pirojpur Awami League Joint Secretary and Member of Parliament Mohiuddin Maharaj, his wife Umme Kulsoom, his son Sammam Junaid Ifti.

According to the order of BSEC in this regard, there may have been irregularities in investment-related matters in the capital market through the mentioned persons. It is necessary to prevent these irregularities in the interest of the overall development of the capital market. For this reason, according to Section 14 of the Depository Act, 1999, the BO accounts of these persons in the stock market under the authority of BSEC will be frozen until further orders.

The order also said that the bank accounts in the names of the mentioned persons have already been seized by the Financial Intelligence Unit of Bangladesh Bank, BFIU. In addition to seizure of bank accounts, investigations have also been initiated against them. In this situation, it has been decided to seize the BO account of the stock market in their name.

Bangladesh /KH