An affiliate of financial services firm Grant Thornton has taken control of three UK companies owned by former Awami League land minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, amid mounting financial troubles.
According to a report by Bisnow on Friday (8 August), the combined assets of the three companies are valued at £142 million. The administration firm assumed control on 29 July. In the UK, administrators are appointed to take over when a company can no longer meet debt obligations or operate effectively, to salvage the business. Saifuzzaman’s companies were placed under administration due to financial distress.
The former minister is accused of laundering money to invest in Britain’s property market, and the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) in Bangladesh has already charged him with corruption.
The companies now under administration are JTS Properties Ltd, RukhMila Properties Ltd, and New Ventures (London) Ltd. JTS, with assets worth £77 million, is the largest among them.
Collectively, the three property companies owe £78 million to various banks, including Singapore-based investment firm DBS, which provided loans against JTS properties. Earlier this year, Bisnow reported that three other companies owned by Saifuzzaman, with assets worth £29 million, were also placed under administration. Many of these loans were reportedly secured against London flats.
Last week, Bisnow revealed that Grant Thornton had already begun selling off assets from the companies placed under administration earlier this year.
Saifuzzaman, a former Awami League MP and land minister, is reported to have purchased over £500 million worth of property in the UK—despite receiving only a fixed ministerial salary. The UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) has seized £170 million of his assets as part of its money laundering and corruption investigation.
