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A writ petition was filed with the High Court (HC) on Thursday seeking an investigation into allegations of buying more than 350 properties (worth Tk2,770 crore) since 2016 against former land minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury.
Supreme Court lawyer Md Salahuddin filed this writ in the public interest. The Anti-Corruption Commission was made respondent to the writ petition.
Md Salahuddin said the writ may be heard in a bench of the High Court next week, according to a UNB report.
A report published in a national daily titled "Ex-Land Minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury's Empire in the UK" was cited in the writ.
In the report, it was alleged that former land minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury has been buying land in the UK since 2016 and has over 350 properties worth £200 million (Tk2,770 crore).
The writ said a property on a private residential street in north-west London was sold for £13.8 million in 2022. According to the property platform, the house is currently worth more than Tk180 million or £1.3 million and is owned by former land minister of Bangladesh Saifuzzaman Chowdhury.
However, according to the law of Bangladesh, no citizen, resident, or government employee can take more than $12,000 (Tk1.317 million) out of the country in a year. The permission is granted only subject to certain conditions, according to the writ.
Saifuzzaman Chowdhury’s vast empire comprises over 350 properties, ranging from luxury apartments in central London to residential buildings in areas with significant Bangladeshi communities, Bloomberg News reported.
The international news agency also analyzed nearly 250 of his UK properties and found that almost 90 per cent were classified as new builds when bought.