The UN is relocating its agencies in Dhaka to a building complex owned by one of the families accused by Bangladesh’s interim government of illegally funneling millions of dollars out of the country, the Financial Times (FT) has learned.
The UN Resident Coordinator’s office in Dhaka told the FT that the world body was “very aware” of the allegations against Bashundhara, Sobhan and his family members.
Chief adviser of the interim government, Prof. Dr. Yunus, has described the alleged looting by elites as “highway robbery” and is demanding that the money “be returned.”
The UN Common Premises, which will soon house UN agencies in the Bangladeshi capital, is owned by the Bashundhara Group, a property and industrial group controlled by the Sobhan family.
The Sobhans are one of the families in the sights of the interim government of Muhammad Yunus as it seeks to recover billions of dollars they believe were embezzled by Sheikh Hasina, the authoritarian leader who was deposed in the mass protest. Allegations of unexplained wealth, including overseas assets, have been leveled against Bashundhara Chairman Ahmed Akbar Sobhan and several members of his family, the government agency told FT. Sobhan has grown into a dominant force in Bangladesh’s economy, with interests spanning property, cement, paper, steel and shipping. But his expansion has sometimes attracted allegations of land-grabbing and financial misconduct.
In September, the Bangladesh Criminal Investigation Department also named the company, Sobhan and Sayem Sobhan Anvir, the managing director of Bashundhara, as subjects of an investigation into alleged money laundering.
The UN Resident Coordinator’s office in Dhaka told the FT that the world body was “very aware” of the allegations against Bashundhara, Sobhan and his family members.
However, Chief adviser of the interim government Prof. Dr. Yunus has described the alleged looting by elites as “highway robbery” and is demanding that the money “be returned.”
“Bangladesh must recover the money and urged international partners, including the UN, have important roles to play in facilitating this,” he said.
According to the UN, the decision to move the complex from Dhaka to Dhaka, which was taken in the village, was taken in the last year before moving to Dhaka, which was completed, according to the decision to move to the complex from a student of Hasina’s 15-year rule in August.
“All preparations and decision-making related to the UN Common Premises in Bangladesh have been carried out following UN rules and regulations and best practices on due diligence, and a rigorous due diligence process has been conducted,” the UN said, adding that it was “unable to comment on ongoing investigations”.
A UN report last month found that government security and intelligence agencies “systematically engaged in several serious human rights abuses” in a crackdown on last year’s protests, which left more than 1,400 people dead.
“We hope the UN will reconsider its decision,” Asif Nazrul, the adviser to Yunus’s government, told the FT. Agencies in the city under one roof for the first time.
However, the decision could increase scrutiny of the UN’s financial dealings and ethical concerns, especially as Bangladesh’s interim authorities step up efforts to recover assets linked to Bangladesh’s elite, experts said. The interim government in December estimated that the country lost $16 billion a year to money laundering during Sheikh Hasina’s rule from 2009 to 2024.
