Mohammad Aziz Khan, chairman of Summit Group and a Singaporean citizen born in Bangladesh, is now listed as the 49th richest person in Singapore with a net worth of $1.1 billion. However, recent investigations suggest that much of this wealth was amassed through corruption, undue privileges, and alleged money laundering, raising serious questions about the source of his fortune.
Summit Group, under Aziz Khan, has dominated Bangladesh’s electricity sector for over a decade. Reports indicate that many of their power plants received contracts and subsidies regardless of production, allowing the group to earn billions without real operational risk. The company also benefited from favorable government policies in telecommunications, ports, and real estate, securing tax breaks and monopoly-like advantages. Critics argue that these deals effectively made Bangladesh’s electricity and infrastructure sectors dependent on Summit Group, while public funds were siphoned abroad.
Investigations reveal that Summit Group’s foreign subsidiaries—primarily in Singapore—were funded using profits generated in Bangladesh. These funds were then used to purchase shares, develop ports in India, and invest in global markets such as the UAE, Finland, Luxembourg, Mauritius, and the US. Family members of Aziz Khan are reported to own substantial international assets purchased with these allegedly misappropriated funds.
Following the fall of the previous Awami League government, the caretaker administration and the Anti-Corruption Commission have started investigating Summit Group’s activities. Courts have ordered the freezing of 191 bank accounts linked to the group, totaling approximately 42 crore BDT, and have also frozen assets in Luxembourg worth over 56 crore BDT.
The investigations allege that Summit Group, along with its executives and family members, engaged in bribery, undue influence, and criminal financial schemes, diverting Bangladesh’s public wealth abroad. According to experts, this raises serious concerns about governance, regulatory oversight, and the vulnerability of Bangladesh’s strategic sectors to private monopolization.
