Bangladesh’s businessman Md Showkat Ali Chowdhury has acquired assets in Singapore with money laundered through various shell companies in British Virgin Islands.
Investigations by TIMES of Bangladesh have also traced his properties in the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. The assets are purchased with laundered money.
According to Singapore Land Authority (SLA) records obtained by TIMES, Showkat, chairman of SN Corporation, bought two luxury condominiums at “The Coast at Sentosa Cove” on Ocean Drive, paying $6.5 million, which is equivalent to Tk79.3 crore.
The purchases were made on 2 May 2023, using his Bangladeshi passport. The previous month, he bought a container ship that never existed. But he laundered the purchase money to Singapore, routing through another country.
Both the condominiums are nearly identical in size. One is 2,336 sq ft and another is 2,357 sq ft, with condominium costing $3.25 million, show SLA records. The first one was registered in Showkat’s name alone while the second jointly in the names of Showkat, his wife Tashmia Ambarin, and mother-in-law Nadera Banu Begum.
Officials of Bangladesh Bank confirmed that not a single penny was remitted through any authorised channel for these acquisitions. Under central-bank rules, Bangladeshi businesses can only invest abroad with explicit approval for expansion purposes. Only 23 companies currently hold such licences, and none is linked to Showkat.
A senior central bank official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, Bangladesh Bank’s database contains no record of any outward investment or asset purchase by Showkat Ali Chowdhury.
Spokesperson of central bank Arief Hossain Khan said there is no option to send money to abroad through legal channel to buy properties. “Qualified company who is eligible for export retention quota (ERQ) and avail sufficient foreign currency in account can seek Bangladesh Bank permission to invest abroad only for business promotional purposes,” he told TIMES.
Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms documents, reviewed by TIMES, reveal that Showkat, chairman of Eastern Bank and controversial businessman Chowdhury Nafeez Sarafat, jointly owns CdNet Communications Ltd. The company formed a consortium with Summit Communications and Metacore Subcom Ltd to establish a Bangladesh–Singapore submarine cable link.
Singaporean records show the consortium operates in partnership with Singapore-based Campana Group. But Bangladesh Bank officials confirmed that Showkat was never granted approval to send funds to Singapore for this venture, further corroborating that the Singapore properties were purchased with laundered money.
Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) is now probing Showkat Ali’s offshore assets. Investigators have already traced a $2.1 million property on Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah Beach while a $24.5 million luxury villa in the Tilal Al Ghaf community on Lanai Island of UAE is now under investigation.
A three-member probe body, led by ACC Deputy Director Md Mostafizur Rahman, is conducting the investigation.
Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) had earlier suspected that Showkat might also own assets in the UK, though that preliminary inquiry was abandoned midway. TIMES has since conducted its own investigation and found evidence that Showkat moved funds to the UK through layers of shell companies and complex transactions.
Under Bangladesh’s Money Laundering Prevention Act 2012, siphoning funds is a serious criminal offence punishable by four to twelve years in prison and fines up to twice the amount laundered.
“If Showkat’s money-laundering offences are proven, he will face not only jail and fines – the government can also move to confiscate the foreign assets,” a senior BFIU official said, wishing anonymity.
Showkat, known as one of most powerful ship-breaking mafias, is the chairman of the Eastern Bank Ltd, a position he could lose if the allegations are proven, as per Bank Company Act.
TIMES repeatedly tried to reach him by phone and text from 15 October to 10 November for comments on laundering funds and other shadow businesses. He did not respond, compelling this outlet to publish this report without his statement.
