The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has filed a money laundering case against former Padma Bank chairman Chowdhury Nafis Sharafat and three others for allegedly misappropriating over Tk 1,613.68 crore.
The case was filed with Gulshan Police Station on November 27 following an investigation by the CID’s Financial Crime Unit, said a media release signed by Jasim Uddin Khan, special superintendent of police (media) of the CID in Dhaka, on Friday.
Investigators found that in 2008, Nafis Sarafat, along with his associate Dr. Hasan Taher Imam, managed a license to operate a fund management company named ‘Race Management PCL.’
Within five years of its launch, the company was entrusted with managing ten fixed-term mutual funds, which has now grown to thirteen mutual funds.
Nafis Sarafat and his collaborators exploited these mutual funds for personal gain, according to the documents.
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Using fund money, Nafis Sarafat, his wife Anjuman Ara Shahid, and Taher Imam purchased shares in Farmers Bank (now Padma Bank), and Nafis Sarafat subsequently became a director on the bank’s board.
He also tactfully made his wife a director of Southeast Bank. The group allegedly used a brokerage house, Multi Securities, to misappropriate fund money through fraudulent trades.
They further invested in a fund named Strategic Equity, which included multiple sub-funds under their control, using Padma Bank’s money and channeling investments to individuals linked to them.
The investigation revealed extensive fraud, including opening and managing multiple bank accounts, acquiring plots through RAJUK, and establishing institutions and universities abroad to facilitate money laundering.
CID found that a total of 78 bank accounts were operated in the names of Nafis Sarafat, his wife, their son Rahib Safwan Sarafat Chowdhury, and related entities.
The accounts collectively held deposits of Tk 1,809.75 crore, with withdrawals totaling around Tk 1,805.58 crore. Of these, 21 accounts remain under the family’s control with a current balance of just Tk 29.21 lakh.
The CID found ownership of multiple offshore companies, including Canadian Maple Strategic Wealth LP (Canada), Blue Ocean Supply Ltd and Lhotse Summit Investments Ltd (British Virgin Islands), and several joint accounts in Singapore’s Standard Chartered Bank.
Safwan Sarafat operates 76 accounts abroad, including in the Royal Bank of Canada, United Overseas Bank (Singapore), Bank of Singapore, and Toronto Dominion Bank. Nafis Sarafat also owns a three-room flat and a five-room villa in Dubai.
Evidence shows Taher Imam maintains accounts through Next Frontiers Fund PTE Ltd in Singapore.
The CID’s Financial Crime Unit found that the fraud involved a combination of deception, forgery and both domestic and international currency transfers.
The total illicit funds involved amount to over Tk 1,613.68 crore.