The High Court has directed the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to dispose of an application seeking an investigation into allegations of money laundering and corruption involving $25 million in the UK against former Eastern Bank chairman Showkat Ali Chowdhury within 30 days.
The court also issued a rule asking why legal action should not be taken against those responsible for the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit’s (BFIU) failure to retrieve the identified $25 million from the UK.
The order came following a report published by the TIMES of Bangladesh on the failure to recover the funds identified in the UK under Showkat Ali Chowdhury’s name.
A High Court bench comprising Justice Fahmida Quader and Justice Hamidur Rahman passed the order on Tuesday after the preliminary hearing of a writ petition.
Supreme Court lawyer Advocate AHM Rezwanul Sayed filed the writ petition seeking directions to dispose of an application for investigating allegations of money laundering involving $25 million in the UK against Showkat Ali Chowdhury.
Lawyers Syed Mamun Mahbub, Mohammad Ali and HM Shanjid Siddiqi appeared for the petitioner during the hearing.
Following the hearing, Shanjid Siddiqi told journalists that the writ petition was filed seeking an investigation into allegations of money laundering and corruption involving $25 million in the UK against Showkat Ali Chowdhury.
The writ petition stated that the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA), while investigating offshore assets allegedly linked to former Land Minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, found $25 million held in a UK bank account under Showkat Ali Chowdhury’s name.
The matter was later reported to the BFIU.
An investigation by the TIMES had earlier revealed that the NCA froze the funds for four weeks. Before releasing the money, UK authorities asked Bangladesh to establish that the funds were proceeds of crime under both Bangladeshi and UK laws.
Despite eight rounds of email exchanges between authorities of the two countries, the BFIU failed to complete the necessary legal procedures within the stipulated timeframe.
After the four-week freeze was lifted, the funds were transferred to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) later took action against Showkat over the $25 million. On 15 March, the Large Taxpayers Unit imposed a fine of Tk306 crore 87 lakh 50 thousand on him under Section 21 of the Income Tax Act, 2023. Based on the exchange rate on that day, the amount was equivalent to $25 million.
Showkat later said he had declared the funds in his income tax return and paid Tk136 crore in taxes. However, he appealed against the fine before the relevant NBR appellate authority.
Meanwhile, the ACC is investigating Showkat’s bank transactions, foreign assets and letters of credit (LCs) related to ship imports involving him, his family members and associated institutions.
Against this backdrop, the High Court set a 30-day deadline for the ACC to dispose of the investigation application. Under the court directive, the ACC must take a decision on the application within the stipulated period.
