DHAKA, Bangladesh — Sheikh Hasina’s dramatic fall from power, newly uncovered property records suggest that a cadre of individuals linked to her regime orchestrated a sweeping reshuffle of assets across the UK’s high-end real estate market, raising fresh questions about the complicity of British financial institutions and the political will to halt illicit capital flight.
The transactions, surfacing just months after Bangladesh’s student-led uprising in July 2024 toppled the country’s long-serving prime minister, point to an urgent effort by ex-regime insiders to relocate or shield wealth in the aftermath of a national reckoning. Among them are deals involving multimillion-pound homes in upscale neighborhoods of London and leafy enclaves of Surrey. Some were quietly sold, others refinanced, and a few were moved into opaque trusts, classic tactics in laundering political fortunes across borders.
This pattern mirrors an earlier string of National Crime Agency (NCA) asset freezes in the UK. In May, British authorities blocked £90 million worth of London properties allegedly linked to the family of Salman F Rahman, a former top economic adviser to Hasina and a shareholder in multiple conglomerates. A month later, over £170 million in assets owned by Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, former land minister and suspected architect of a sprawling offshore empire involving more than 300 properties, were also frozen under anti-corruption provisions.
But the new data, analyzed by Transparency International in partnership with British investigative reporters, shows that property transactions tied to Hasina-era political and business networks continued well beyond those headline-grabbing freezes. In some cases, mortgages were renegotiated with British lenders, while title records suggest ownership transfers to shell companies or relatives, hinting at attempts to obscure beneficial ownership before authorities could intervene.
The revelations have reignited outrage in Bangladesh, where the post-Hasina interim government is pursuing a sweeping anti-graft campaign. “We are aware of efforts to liquidate assets and would like the UK government to consider more freezing orders,” said ACC chair Mohammad Abdul Momen, who has formally requested additional international cooperation, including legal assistance from UK regulators.
In Westminster, however, the response has been more restrained. Although members of Parliament have called for greater scrutiny of politically exposed persons (PEPs) in the UK’s luxury property sector, critics say the government’s current approach remains too reactive. Campaigners argue that the UK continues to serve as a safe haven for foreign kleptocrats, facilitated by a soft-touch regulatory culture in the City of London and a property market that has long been accused of laundering global dirty money.
This latest wave of scrutiny adds to the mounting pressure on UK institutions to act decisively. Without expanded enforcement, observers fear a repeat of the notorious “Londongrad” era—only this time, featuring Dhaka’s elite rather than Moscow’s oligarchs.
Based on newly obtained UK land registry data and whistleblower testimony, forms the backbone of these new claims. According to The Guardian, “individuals linked to Sheikh Hasina’s regime appear to have conducted property transactions in the UK even after the former prime minister’s government was overthrown in 2024.”
Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, former land minister under Sheikh Hasina’s administration, quietly amassed a vast and opaque global property empire valued at nearly $300 million. The investigation uncovered a staggering 482 real estate holdings under his name and those of close family members, spread across prime locations in London, Dubai, and Singapore. These assets were allegedly funneled through a complex matrix of offshore trusts, shell corporations, and nominee ownership structures, designed to mask the true beneficiaries and evade international scrutiny.
Several properties were mortgaged or refinanced through British banks, with lax due diligence allowing politically exposed persons (PEPs) to bypass red flags. Chowdhury’s holdings include entire residential blocks in East London, luxury apartments in Canary Wharf, and suburban estates in Surrey. The scale of the network, described by the Financial Times as “one of the most sophisticated real estate laundering operations ever traced to South Asia,” has become a central focus of both Bangladeshi and British investigations. Authorities in Dhaka have since issued formal asset recovery notices to the UK, demanding the seizure and repatriation of wealth they allege was acquired through abuse of state contracts and land development licenses during Chowdhury’s tenure.
