Amid the ongoing casino crackdown, Bangladesh Bank (BB) and the national revenue board have asked banks and financial institutions (FIs) to freeze bank accounts of Golam Kibria Shamim and Khaled Mahmud Bhuiyan and their close relatives, officials confirmed.
Golam Kibria Shamim and Khaled Mahmud Bhuiyan were arrested few days back in drives against casinos on charges of money laundering, tender manipulations and running illegal gambling rackets.
A senior official at the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) of the central bank said they already asked the banks and other FIs to block accounts of the duo and their close relatives.
He said they blocked the bank accounts of GK Shamim and his wife, mother and father on Sunday. The bank accounts of Khaled and his family members were also frozen.
"We have also asked the banks and FIs to provide us with detailed information about their bank accounts within five working days," he said.
When asked how much money was there in the seized accounts, the BFIU official could not give the actual figure.
"It will be clear, once the information is divulged by the banks and FIs. We assume GS Shamim alone has Tk 3.0 billion in his bank accounts."
The central bank sources said a bank on Sunday informed the BB that a cheque was placed for withdrawing a large sum of money from one account of Shamim and sought the BB's permission for settling the transaction.
Then the BB issued the instruction to block the accounts of Shamim and his relatives.
Later on Monday the BB issued another instruction to block the accounts of Khaled and his family members.
On the other hand, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) also instructed banks and FIs to freeze the accounts of Shamim, his wife and mother and the accounts of Khaled.
"We asked all banks and FIs to freeze bank accounts of Shamim, his wife and mother and those of Khaled," an NBR official said.
The NBR has already signed a letter to this end and the letter will be sent to the banks and FIs today (Tuesday).
The central intelligence cell of the NBR has already been assigned to find out whether GK Shamim and his company dodged any tax, sources at the revenue board said.
The NBR gave the banks and FIs 15 days to furnish all information about the frozen accounts.
Expelled Jubo League leader Khaled Mahmud Bhuiyan was arrested by the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) on September 18 last due to his alleged link with running casinos in some of the capital's sporting clubs.
A couple of days later, the elite force in another operation nabbed GK Shamim along with his seven bodyguards and recovered cash worth Tk 18 million and Fixed Deposit Receipt (FDR) documents amounting to Tk 1.65 billion from his office at Niketan in the city.
Three cases were filed against Shamim under drugs, money laundering and firearms possession laws with the Gulshan police.
However, police as part of the ongoing anti-gambling drive raided on Monday the Fu-Wang Club in the capital's Tejgaon Industrial Area.
A team of police led by executive magistrate of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Abdullah Al Mamun launched the crackdown at about 5.00pm, deputy commissioner (Tejgaon zone) Anisur Rahman said.
Talking to reporters, magistrate Abdullah Al Mamun said they did not find anything illegal in the club, although they had information about existence of a casino or a gambling racket there.
He said the club was operating a bar but it had the permission. "So, we didn't take any action against the club."
Another police raid was going on the Piyashi Bar and Restaurant at Maghbazar in the city until filing this report at 9:00 pm.
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