NBR moves to freeze bank accounts of Shawon, Samrat

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has moved to freeze the bank accounts of lawmaker Nurunnabi Chowdhury Shawon, his wife Farjana Chowdhury, Dhaka South Jubo League President Ismail Hossain Chowdhury Samrat and his wife.   

The central intelligence cell of the NBR sent letters to banks on Tuesday to carry out the order on suspicion that those four people could have deposited illegally accumulated money in their accounts. NBR sources said the order was issued against Bhola-3 constituency MP Shawon and his family; and Dhaka South Jubo League President Samrat and his family as part of an ongoing crackdown on casinos.  

Quoting intelligence reports, the NBR claimed that Shawon and Samrat had accumulated large sums of money from illicit businesses.  

However, neither the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) nor any central bank sources confirmed the flagging of the bank accounts.   

NBR Chairman Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan said that they were looking at some bank accounts and checking income tax returns to flag whether money was laundered, or if any illegal exchange took place.

"Letters were sent to freeze bank accounts as a part of that investigation," said Mosharraf Hossain without mentioning any name. 

On Monday, the NBR sought information on the bank accounts of Shawon, Samrat and their wives. The Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit has ordered freezing of the bank accounts of everyone involved in running casinos, including Jubo League leader Khaled Mahmud Bhuiyan and JK Shamim. 

Both Bhuiyan and Shamim have been remanded in police custody.