ACC to investigate Bangladeshi buying spree in Dubai's real estate sector

Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) commissioner Zahirul Haque has disclosed that the commission will start an investigation about the properties of 459 Bangladeshi nationals in Dubai.

The commissioner said this in a discussion with journalists in his office in the head office of ACC.

The High Court on 15 January ordered four agencies, including the Anti-Corruption Commission, to investigate. The other agencies are Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU), Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and National Board of Revenue (NBR).

The HC bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Khizir Hayat passed the order after hearing a writ petition in this regard. It asked the four agencies to submit the progress report within a month.

The court also issued a rule questioning why the inaction of the authorities concerned should not be declared illegal.

On 12 January, Advocate Subir Nandi filed the writ petition attaching a report in this regard published in a national daily.

According to the report, a huge amount of money has been transferred to Dubai from different parts of the globe including Bangladesh.

Based on a report of US-based Centre for Advanced Defense Studies, the EU Tax Observatory said 459 Bangladeshis have purchased 972 properties in Dubai till 2020, concealing the information in their own country.

According to the report, Bangladeshis have purchased the properties worth approximately one billion dollars during this period, making them one of the top buyers in the real estate sector of Dubai.

Experts believe that huge amounts of money are being transferred due to the lack of effective and strong measures to stop money laundering, it said.