CID files case against ex-Padma Bank chief Nafeez Sarafat, family for 'laundering Tk 16.1bn

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has filed a case accusing former Padma Bank chairman Chowdhury Nafeez Sarafat, members of his family, and an associate of laundering more than Tk 16.13 billion. The case was lodged at Gulshan Police Station on Thursday under the Money Laundering Prevention Act, the CID said in a statement.
The other accused are Sarafat’s wife Anjuman Ara Shahid, his son Rahib Safwan Sarafat Chowdhury. CID investigators say Sarafat obtained a licence in 2008 to run an asset-management firm, Race Management PCL, which later secured responsibility for managing several closed-end mutual funds. The agency alleges the funds were used for “illegal personal interests”.
The press release also stated that these mutual funds were used for illegitimate personal interests by Nafiz Sarafat and his associates. Together with his wife Anjuman Ara Shahid and other family members, Nafiz Sarafat allegedly colluded with Dr. Hasan Taher Imam, the principal figure of RACE, and invested fund assets through fraud and deception to purchase shares of the then Farmers Bank (now Padma Bank). He later secured a position on the bank’s board of directors, and, with the direct support of Sheikh Hasina, even became the bank’s chairman.
It is further alleged that, through strategic maneuvering, Chowdhury Nafiz Sarafat placed his wife Anjuman Ara Shahid on the board of Southeast Bank as well. It is known that, as Dr. Hasan Taher Imam did not consent to these actions, Nafiz Sarafat attempted to seize RACE’s shares using the then Inspector General of Police Benazir Ahmed and certain corrupt officials of RAB and DGFI, subjecting Dr. Imam to cases and administrative harassment.

Sarafat is also alleged to have used Padma Bank funds to buy or invest in a vehicle named Strategic Equity, held in the names of individuals linked to him.
The CID says it analysed documents and accounts associated with the accused and found the use of multiple beneficiary owners’ (BO) accounts, forged documents and the acquisition of RAJUK plots under different names, which it alleges were used to funnel assets abroad.
The Financial Crime Unit said it identified 78 bank accounts linked to Sarafat, his family members and their businesses. These recorded deposits of Tk 18.09 billion and withdrawals of Tk 18.05 billion, according to the CID. Twenty-one of those accounts, registered in the names of Sarafat, his wife and son, now hold just Tk 2.92 million, though the CID says “significant” transactions took place through them.
Investigators also say they found evidence of overseas assets, including two properties in Canada, a company registered in the British Virgin Islands, a company in Singapore with 15 joint bank accounts, and 76 bank accounts abroad held in the name of Sarafat’s son.
Sarafat also owns a three-room flat and five-room villa in Dubai, according to investigators. The agency claims it has also identified substantial assets held in Bangladesh.
The CID says its preliminary investigation found that over Tk 16.13 billion had been obtained through “fraud and forgery” and laundered through domestic and overseas channels, prompting the filing of the case.
The allegations emerged after reports circulated on social media and in the press about pressure to invest Tk 5 billion in a Best Holdings bond and about suspected foreign property purchases, prompting the CID’s Financial Crime Unit to begin its probe.