Bangladeshi interest in British real estate

Tulip Siddiq, Labour MP and Treasury Minister, doesn’t live in her own home. Tulip and her family live in a ￡2 million house bought by Abdul Karim, a wealthy businessman given ‘Commercially Important Person’ (CIP) status by Sheikh Hasina then Prime Minister of Bangladesh. Hasina is Tulip’s auntie.

Before Sheikh Hasina was kicked out of Bangladesh in August, following 15 years of authoritarian rule, CIP status gave Mr Karim automatic invites to state ceremonies and first-class travel along with a letter of introduction from the Bangladesh embassy in any country he visited.

As the Daily Mail have reported, after Tulip moved into his house, Mr Karim became the vice-chairman of the Shahjalal Islami Bank in Bangladesh. Retaining ￡1.2 million of shares, sources claim he lobbied to join the bank, despite having no banking experience, and told its directors that he had links to the Prime Minister. The source added that calls were then made from the PM's office to lobby the bank on his behalf.

There’s no suggestion that Tulip asked her aunt to make such calls. It’s also worth noting that Ms Siddiq rents out her own home, that she left for Mr Karim’s house, and declares the income she receives from that.

Rehana Siddiq, Tulip’s mother, also fled Bangladesh with her sister, Sheikha Hasina, on the 5th August in a military helicopter – they are an exceptionally close family.

Two years ago, it was reported by Netra News that Rehana lived in a ￡1.4 million house in London, which was owned by the family of Salman F Rahman, one of Bangladesh's richest tycoons who became a minister in Sheikh Hasina's government.

Soon after Hasina was toppled Salman F Rahman was arrested trying to flee Bangladesh dressed as a boatman and now faces murder charges and charges for money laundering. Bangla Outlook provide a detailed description of how Mr Rahman’s only son, Ahmed Shayan Fazlur Rahman, and nephew, Ahmed Shahryar Rahman, have bought luxury real estate across London. It includes various properties in Grosvenor Square and Golders Green.

Then there’s the case of Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, a former land minister, and close ally of Sheikh Hasina.

Al Jazeera's Investigative Unit recently produced a 25 minute programme illustrating how Mr Chowdhury has amassed over ￡300 million in property on a ￡10,000 salary – it’s well worth watching, not least because he naively gives the investigators a tour of his ￡11 million luxury London home.

Earlier this year Bloomberg analysis showed that since 2016, “companies that he owns have built up a UK real estate empire of more than 350 properties worth about ￡200 million”. A Dhaka court has just moved to confiscate all his and his family’s assets and prohibit him from leaving the country. Mr Chowdhury denies any wrongdoing.

Further afield and back in January 2023, the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), investigated an aide to Sheikh Hasina, Mohammed Abdus Sobhan Miah. It showed that in 2009, the former cab driver and pizza cook started as a ‘special assistant’ to Hasina on a salary of ￡770 per month, five years later he owned at least nine properties worth over ￡3 million in New York city.

Last month a series of allegations came out in Bangladesh against Abul Hasanat Abdullah, a cousin of Sheikh Hasina and a former ruling politician. Prothom Alo, an English reporting publication, alleges that Mr Abdullah stole land from residents and took illegal commissions on developments and contracts. It is understood that he’s fled the country.

It's hardly surprising that Transparency International, the UK Anti-Corruption Coalition, and other campaigning groups, are now calling on David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary to act. They wrote to him in September urging him to have the UK’s National Crime Agency focus more heavily on Bangladesh related money laundering and to support the new Bangladesh interim government in rooting out the corruption.

Bangladesh, whilst developing, remains an exceptionally poor country, but not for those related or connected to the outgoing Prime Minister. Let’s see if our new Labour Government decide to act or leave those who’ve swindled Bangladesh to enjoy their dirty money.