Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU), the financial intelligence agency of the central bank, has summoned bank account details of 28 journalists.  The BFIU has sent letters to various banks of the country seeking information about them, sources familiar with the development said Tuesday. After receiving the letter from the Ministry of Information, BFIU wrote to the banks and asked for all the bank account information of the journalists. BFIU seeks bank account info of Tawfiq-e-Elahi, Bahauddin Nasim The information being sought is whether there are any bank lockers, savings cards, credit cards and other financial instruments in their name or whether money has been transacted or not. The journalists whose information has been sought are Naeem Nizam, editor of Bangladesh Pratidin, Farida Yasmin, former president of Jatiya Press Club, Zayedul Hasan Pintu, head of news, DBC News, Subhash Singh Roy, editor-in-chief of abnews24.com, Haider Ali, executive editor of Kaler Kantha, J.I Mamun of ATN, Bangla Insider Editor Syed Borhan Kabir, Bangladesh High Commission Press Minister in New Delhi Shaban Mahmud, City Editor of Bangladesh Protidin Mirza Mehdi Tamal and Chief Reporter Zulkarnain Rono, Samakal Editor Alamgir Hossain, Madhusudan Mandal of BSS, DBC's Masud Ayub Curzon, Executive Editor of Amather Samoy Mainul Islam, Journalist Faraji Ajmal Hossain, Ashok Chowdhury of Baisakhi TV, Executive Editor Rahul Raha, Editor of Daily Sun Rezaul Karim Lotus, Deputy Chief News Editor of News 24 Ashikur Rahman Shraban, Special Correspondent of Jugantor Abdullah Al Mamun, Former Editor of Swadesh Pratidin Rafiqul Islam Ratan, Editor of Dainik Mukhopatro Sheikh Jamal Hossain, DBC News' Special Correspondent Aditya Arafat, ATN News Special Correspondent Tauhidul Islam Sourav, Special Correspondent of Jugantor Sheikh Mamunur Rashid, Journalist Shyamal Sarkar, City Editor Ittefaq Abul Khair and Daily Kalbela Editor and Administrator Santosh Sharma.

The Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) has instructed banks to freeze the accounts of Summit Group chairman Muhammad Aziz Khan, his brothers, and other family members. The BFIU, in a letter, asked banks to block transactions for 30 days under the provisions of the Money Laundering Prevention Act. It earlier collected accounts information of Aziz Khan and his family members. He is among influential top 50 businessman in Singapore. 

The Suspicious Transaction Reporting (STR) and Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) increased by 43.67 per cent in the fiscal year 2020-2021, said a report of Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU)  on Tuesday. The BFIU annual report was presented at a view-exchange meeting at the Jahangir Alam Conference Hall, Central Bank Head Office. Read: BFIU launched standalone website to strengthen awareness against money laundering BFIU chief Md. Masud Biswas presided over the function. The meeting was attended by Md. Serajul Islam, Executive Director and Spokesperson of Bangladesh Bank, Iftekhar Mahmud, Programmer of BFIU and Ikramul Hasan, Joint Director. According to the annual report, there were 30,657 STRs and SARs in the FY 2019-20, and the number increased to 5280 in the FY 2020-21. According to the BFIU's annual report, most of the money transacted illegally was through banking channels. The amount of money transactions through other means was also immense. Masud said that STR and SAR increased due to improving the capacity of BFIU and awareness of reporting the organizations. Increasing the number of STR and SAR does not mean rising corruption or illegal money rather it is happening due to the rising reporting tendency and watch by BFIU. Read: BFIU summons bank accounts update of 30 e-commerce companies He said 26.1 per cent of the suspicious transactions were identified from the reporting of news media, he said. BFIU chief Masud said, "This year we are going to celebrate the 20th anniversary of BFIU, which is appreciated worldwide for improving technology and money laundering identification systems.”

Another case has been filed against 14 people, including Evaly CEO Mohammad Rassel and his wife Shamima Nasrin, chairman of the company,  on charge of embezzlement and fraudulence. Mohammad Quamrul Islam, another aggrieved customer and son of Junedul Islam of Old Paltan area, filed the case with Dhanmondi Model Police Station on Friday, said its officer-in-charge Ikram Ali. Akash, vice president of Evaly, Tanvir Alam, senior accounts manager, Zahedul Islam, manager, Jawadul Haque Chowdhury, senior executive, are among the accused. Read:E-commerce firms like Evaly, E-orange to face action: DMP Earlier, on September 17, Rab personnel arrested Evaly CEO Rassel and his wife Nasrin, from their Mohammadpur residence. Rassel and Shamima were arrested after an aggrieved customer, Arif Baker, lodged a case with Gulshan police station accusing them and few other company executives of embezzlement and fraudulence. A Dhaka court on Friday placed them on a three-day remand. Read: Evaly’s liabilities over Tk 1,000 crore Besides, the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU), an arm of the Bangladesh Bank that specializes in financial crime investigations, directed all the commercial banks and financial institutions through a common letter on August 27 to freeze all the bank accounts operated by top executives of Evaly. The Directorate of National Consumer Right Protection, a department under the Commerce Ministry, received allegations from consumers about “cheating” by Evaly. Bangladesh Bank officials said one of the major allegations against Evaly is forcing its consumers to deposit their money in the e-wallet of the firm which was totally illegal.