Bangladesh has lost a four-week window provided by UK authorities to secure $25 million linked to Eastern Bank (EBL) Chairman Showkat Ali Chowdhury after failing to complete the required legal procedures, allowing the funds to be transferred to the United Arab Emirates.
The transfer has made recovery significantly more difficult because Bangladeshi authorities must now pursue a fresh legal process with the UAE, according to Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) officials and documents reviewed by TIMES of Bangladesh.
The episode exposes one of the biggest obstacles confronting Bangladesh’s campaign to recover assets allegedly laundered abroad. Once money moves into another jurisdiction, asset recovery efforts typically become more complex and time-consuming.
The existence of the $25 million first became public on 8 June when Bangladesh Bank Governor Md Mostaqur Rahman told newspaper editors that authorities had identified overseas assets worth $25 million under the government’s stolen asset recovery programme and were working to bring them back to Bangladesh. He did not identify the owner of the assets.
A subsequent TIMES of Bangladesh investigation established that the funds were linked to Showkat Ali Chowdhury, who also chairs SN Corporation.
Documents reviewed by TIMES show that the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) identified the funds while tracing assets allegedly linked to former land minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury.
A BFIU official familiar with the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the NCA had asked Showkat Ali Chowdhury to explain the source of the funds. After finding the explanation unsatisfactory, the agency notified BFIU that it had restrained the money for four weeks and requested Bangladesh to complete the legal procedures necessary to support further action.
Bangladesh failed to complete those procedures within the available period.
“After the four-week restraint period expired, he transferred the money from the United Kingdom to the United Arab Emirates,” the official told TIMES.
The official said BFIU is now communicating with the UAE authorities, but cooperation has been limited.
“We are communicating with the UAE authorities. But they are not cooperating properly. That is why the recovery process is taking time,” the official said.
During the same period, Showkat Ali Chowdhury declared the overseas funds in his Bangladeshi tax return.
National Board of Revenue (NBR) Acting Chairman Ahsan Habib confirmed to TIMES that Showkat paid Tk136 crore in tax through the Large Taxpayers Unit on the $25 million during the 2025-26 tax year.
The handling of the case has also come under legal scrutiny.
On 11 July, a Supreme Court lawyer served legal notices on Bangladesh Bank, BFIU, NBR, the Financial Institutions Division, the Anti-Corruption Commission and the Criminal Investigation Department, alleging that the authorities failed to use the four-week opportunity provided by the UK. The notices also called for investigations into officials responsible for the lapse.
Asked about the legal notice, BFIU Head Iqtiaruddin Md Mamun said he was abroad on official business and was unaware of it.
Requests to Showkat Ali Chowdhury for a comment remained unanswered.
