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SC halts probe till January 8
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submitted the authenticity report to the HC through swearing an affidavit, which was presented at the court.
At yesterday’s hearing, Alam’s lawyers also argued that a suo moto rule can only be passed if someone’s fundamental rights have been violated. They argued that by ordering a probe, the HC was acting like prosecutors.
The ACC lawyer argued that the HC can pass a suo moto rule regarding public wrongs -- and pointed out that Justice Enayetur himself had previously said so in a judgment.
In that judgment, given in a case from November 2017 concerning an investigation into the assets of a retired judge, Enayetur had said that when a public wrong of grave nature has occurred, the court can issue a suo moto rule to protect and uphold the image of the judiciary, the ACC lawyer added.
The HC had also previously passed another suo moto rule against banks owned by Alam on December 4, 2022, based on allegations of loan scams raised by newspaper reports.
In that rule, the HC had ordered the BFIU, the ACC and the CID to investigate the loan scams and explain why “the failure and inaction of the respondents in taking appropriate legal steps and actions against the entities and persons who have misappropriated and laundered a huge amount of money from the Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd and other banks taking loans in the name of fake, fabricated and non-existent companies/entities using various unethical mechanisms and massive irregularities as mentioned and disclosed in different newspaper reports, shall not be declared illegal.”
The court had also asked the respondents to take action against the wrong-doers.
Alam did not challenge that rule.
Barrister Sayedul Haque Suman, who had brought The Daily Star report to the notice of the High Court, said he was saddened that he could not place his arguments at yesterday’s hearing.
“I had earlier applied before the High Court to be a party to the rule, but my application has been kept on hold,” said Suman.
“When I applied to be a party, the deputy attorney general questioned my application. Why was he opposing my inclusion, when it was I who had moved a prayer before the High Court?” he said, adding that the government’s counsel seems helpless in representing their interests.
According to The Daily Star investigative report, Bangladesh Bank has so far allowed 17 companies to invest outside the country, and S Alam Group is not one of them.
Yet in Singapore, Alam bought at least two hotels, two homes, one retail space, and other properties worth at least about $1 billion over the last one decade, all the while seeking to remove his name from the paper trails, documents obtained by this newspaper show.

10 S’pore banks
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tainted funds have been identified. Supervisory engagements with these financial institutions are ongoing,” the authority said in a statement last week, as per the newspaper.
Meanwhile, The Straits Times reports that of the 20 firms linked to the suspected money launderers, 11 were not at their registered addresses, despite being listed as “live”.
They included Golden Eagle Assets and Golden Eagle Family Office. Both listed Zhang Ruijin, 44, as a director. The Saint Kitts and Nevis national, who is believed to be from Fujian, China, is facing a fraud charge.
Singaporean law mandates that companies must ensure that their registered office is open and accessible to the public for at least three hours during ordinary business hours on each business day, reports the Singaporean daily.
It quotes Professor Lawrence Loh from the National University of Singapore Business School as saying, “It’s actually quite easy to create a business and not conduct transactions.” But a company that is dormant must declare it to the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority, he added.