UK freezes assets of ex-land minister Saifuzzaman

The UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) has frozen properties in the United Kingdom owned by Saifuzzaman Chowdhury Javed, Bangladesh’s former minister of land, reports Al Jazeera.

The move follows legal requests from Bangladesh authorities to take action against assets owned by Saifuzzaman, a political ally of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina of the now-banned Awami League. Saifuzzaman is under investigation by Bangladesh authorities for money laundering.

In a statement to Al Jazeera, an NCA spokesperson confirmed the freezing order. “We can confirm that the NCA has secured freezing orders against a number of properties as part of an ongoing civil investigation.”

The property freeze means, in effect, that the assets cannot be sold by Saifuzzaman.

The action by the police agency, often dubbed “Britain’s FBI”, coincided with this week’s visit to London by Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus.

Saifuzzaman had been a close ally of deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled Bangladesh in August 2024 after hundreds were killed as security forces cracked down on student protests.

After Hasina’s departure, Bangladesh authorities launched an investigation into allegations of widespread corruption in her government.

In earlier statements to Al Jazeera, Saifuzzaman said the funds used to buy his overseas properties came from legitimate businesses outside Bangladesh, which he had owned for years. The former minister claimed he was the subject of a politically motivated “witch-hunt” against him.

Saifuzzaman has at least 260 properties in the United Kingdom for which he has paid at least GBP 134.76 million or Tk 1,888 crore, according to The Daily Star’s calculation from company filings publicly available on UK government websites.

The three-time Awami League lawmaker has also at least 537 mortgages against properties in the UK. A vast majority of these properties are in London.

However, his tax returns, submitted along with his affidavit to the Election Commission, states that he has no foreign income.

The affidavit says his annual income from business is only Tk 1.35 lakh. Although the affidavit must also reveal the annual income of dependents — like wife and children — the minister left that blank.