A Dhaka court has appointed a receiver to safeguard the seized flats, plots and land owned by former chairman of Padma Bank Chowdhury Nafeez Sarafat, his wife Anjuman Ara Shahid and their son Rahib Safwan Sarafat.
The order was issued on Thursday by Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Sabbir Foyez following a petition filed by Afroza Haque Khan, deputy director of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
According to the ACC petition, assets in Nafeez Sarafat’s name include 30.56 kathas of land in Dhaka, Gazipur and Narayanganj, nine flats and a 20-storey flat.
Under Anjuman Ara Shahid’s name, there are five flats in Dhaka, 13 kathas of land in the capital and 8.25 decimals of land in Gazipur. In Rahib Safwan Sarafat’s name, seven flats in Dhaka have been listed.
The ACC told the court that investigations are under way into allegations, including the misappropriation of around Tk887 crore, and that appointing a receiver is essential to protect the assets.
Earlier, on 7 January this year, the court ordered the attachment of houses, land and 18 flats belonging to former Farmers Bank (now Padma Bank) chairman Chowdhury Nafeez Sarafat and his family.
After the fall of the Awami League regime, bank accounts belonging to Nafeez and his wife were frozen.
On 16 August last year, the ACC launched an inquiry into allegations that Nafeez misappropriated Tk800 crore through bank manipulation and capital-market irregularities. His beneficiary owner (BO) account in the stock market has also been frozen.
Nafeez Sarafat, chairman of the trustee board of Canadian University of Bangladesh, expanded his business interests over the past decade into hotels, power, mobile towers, media and other sectors.
Farmers Bank faced collapse due to irregularities and loan scams, prompting a change in ownership and management in 2017. Under pressure, former chairman and Awami League presidium member Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir resigned.
The following year, Chowdhury Nafeez Sarafat took over as chairman. After changes to the board, Farmers Bank was renamed Padma Bank in January 2019.
