Mohammed Saiful Alam, the founding chairman and managing director of the prominent Bangladeshi conglomerate S Alam Group, has initiated legal steps as a Singaporean citizen to claim compensation for alleged financial damages. Influential British newspaper The Financial Times reported on Monday that Saiful accuses the Bangladesh interim government of imposing asset freezes and other restrictions that have severely impacted his investments following the removal of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Saiful’s legal challenge, pursued alongside his family, may complicate the interim government’s ongoing efforts to recover billions of dollars allegedly funneled abroad during the Awami League administration. His legal representatives have formally notified interim leader Dr. Muhammad Yunus and key advisers, warning that the matter will escalate to international arbitration if unresolved within six months.
The legal dispute is based on a 2004 bilateral investment treaty between Bangladesh and Singapore. The Alam family, now based in Singapore, acquired permanent residency there in 2011 and citizenship between 2021 and 2023, renouncing their Bangladeshi nationality in 2020.
According to a December 18 notice prepared by the law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, the Bangladesh government’s actions allegedly violate international investment treaties. The notice accuses Bangladeshi authorities of freezing the family’s bank accounts, imposing travel bans, stripping control of their companies, and initiating investigations into alleged money laundering without formal notification.
It further claims that S Alam Group-owned banks have been prohibited from issuing loans, their management teams replaced, and business agreements arbitrarily canceled. The legal notice states that these actions have caused the “destruction” of the investors’ assets and violated their rights under investment treaties and Bangladeshi laws.
The government has not commented on these allegations. The S Alam Group, which operates across industries including food, construction, garments, and banking, has denied the allegations, stating they are baseless. A Bangladesh Bank spokesperson confirmed that the matter is under investigation but refrained from commenting further to ensure the integrity of the process.
January 9, 2025 12:22 am
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