BFIU freezes Tk 76,000cr linked to Hasina family, 10 business groups

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The Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) has frozen assets worth about Tk 76,000 crore linked to the Hasina family and 10 widely discussed business groups as part of its anti-money laundering drive. Of the total amount, Tk 57,000 crore has been frozen in Bangladesh, while the rest has been blocked overseas.

The information was disclosed on Wednesday by BFIU chief Ikhtiar Uddin Muhammad Mamun while releasing the unit’s annual report for the 2024-25 fiscal year at Bangladesh Bank headquarters.

Mamun said the BFIU received nearly 31,000 reports of suspicious transactions and activities during the fiscal year. Around 95 percent of those reports came from banks. He also said preparations have been completed to file cases in 11 major incidents, and recovery of some laundered money is expected to begin later this year.

According to the report, the BFIU received 30,199 suspicious transaction and activity reports in FY25. Of them, 20,524 were Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) and 9,675 were Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs). The total number of reports increased by 80 percent from the previous fiscal year.

The number of reports was 17,345 in FY24, while it was only 5,280 in FY21, showing a nearly six-fold increase in just four years.

The BFIU said tighter regulatory supervision, stronger compliance by financial institutions, better transaction monitoring systems and greater awareness of money laundering and terrorist financing risks contributed to the sharp rise in reporting. Increased monitoring of online gambling, cryptocurrency, foreign exchange transactions and digital hundi activities also played a role.

Banks remained the largest source of suspicious transaction reports. They submitted 28,755 reports in FY25, up nearly 80 percent from the previous year. Banks accounted for 95 percent of all reports, compared with 92 percent a year earlier and 91 percent two years ago.
Reports submitted by financial institutions increased from 121 to 250, while reports from money transfer operators rose from 900 to 1,095 during the year. However, together they still accounted for only a small share of the total reports.

The BFIU said all reporting entities are legally required to report suspicious transactions under the Money Laundering Prevention Act and the Anti-Terrorism Act as soon as such activities are detected.

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