Six UK property companies controlled by a former Bangladeshi minister have been plunged into administration amid a wider corruption scandal involving Tulip Siddiq.

Saifuzzaman Chowdhury’s property empire has unravelled amid a crackdown by the Bangladeshi authorities, which have accused him of laundering money into Britain.

His UK property portfolio is said to be worth £170m and contains more than 300 properties.

The claims against him form part of a broader investigation into flats and houses bought by former allies and family members of the ousted prime minister, Sheikh Hasina.

Sheikh Hasina is the aunt of Ms Siddiq, who resigned as Treasury minister earlier this year amid growing pressure over the anti-corruption scandal in Bangladesh.

A corruption trial against Ms Siddiq began this week in Bangladesh over claims that she illegally received a plot of land from her aunt’s government. She denies the allegations.

Meanwhile, the collapse of Chowdhury’s businesses occurred after his assets were hit with a freezing order by the National Crime Agency (NCA).

This included a luxury £11m property in St John’s Wood, north London, and a block of flats in Fitzrovia, central London.

The NCA took action against Mr Chowdhury following requests from the current government in Dhaka.

He has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and claimed that he is the victim of a politically motivated witch hunt. He has repeatedly said that he used legitimate funds to buy his overseas properties.

Administrators at Grant Thornton have now been tasked with selling a large chunk of Mr Chowdhury’s assets, which largely consist of rental housing blocks in London and the South East.

Money generated from the sales would be used to repay creditors, which include Singaporean lender DBS and British Arab Commercial Bank.

Filings on Companies House also claim that Bangladeshi lender United Commercial Bank is also seeking to recoup $350m (£260m) from Mr Chowdhury.

It comes amid a complex corruption scandal in Bangladesh, with officials concerned over the vast UK property portfolios amassed by members of Sheikh Hasina’s government.

As a former minister in Bangladesh, Mr Chowdhury has said previously that Sheikh Hasina treated him “like her son”.

Ms Siddiq, the UK’s former anti-corruption minister resigned from her post in January amid claims she benefited from properties linked with the Awami League, her aunt’s party.

Bangladesh’s anti-corruption commission has been investigating several members of Sheikh Hasina’s family, including Ms Siddiq, over accusations of corruption.

Ms Siddiq has denied any wrongdoing and called the allegations “completely absurd”.

She told The Guardian that she does not plan to attend the trial in Bangladesh, saying: “I still don’t know what the charges are against me.

“I feel a bit like I’m trapped in this Kafkaesque nightmare where I’ve been put on trial and I genuinely haven’t found out what the allegations are and what the trial is about.”

Ms Siddiq is one of 27 people formally indicted last week by two Bangladeshi courts, including her aunt, who remains in exile in India.

Source: The Telegraph

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