Nazrul Islam Mazumder's Empire of Illegal Wealth At Home and Abroad

 
Nassa Group's owner Nazrul Islam Mazumder plundered and paralyzed Bangladesh's banking and financial systems through loan scams, terror finance and money laundering during last 15 years while ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was in power. Nazrul Islam Mazumder is former Chairman of Exim Bank and terminated President of Bangladesh Association of Banks (BAB).

Nazrul Islam Mazumder was in BAB top post during the whole tenure of overthrown ruling party Awami League. He capitalized on his close connections with Sheikh Hasina's Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and carried on financial crimes and gobbled up 22 banks and financial institutions with collaboration from Sheikh Hasina and senior PMO officials back then.

Nazrul Islam Mazumder built up an empire made of illegal money both in Bangladesh and foreign countries. He purchased a broad number of business firms and luxurious apartments in various countries with money earned through unlawful gambits. Bangladesh Bank, Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) have found these heinous offences committed by Nazrul Islam Mazumder.

A court ordered the regulatory authorities to seize all bank accounts held by Nazrul Islam Mazumder, his spouse Nasrin Islam, daughter Anika Islam and his son Walid Ibn Islam on 3 February 2025. Nazrul Islam Mazumder siphoned away big sums of money from Bangladesh to foreign companies by means of over-invoicing, under-invoicing and hundi. He owns 18 shell companies in foreign countries. The market price of Nazrul Islam Mazumder's assets purchased with laundered cash is around 620 crore taka. Investigations are going on to find more financial vices done by Nazrul Islam Mazumder and his cohorts. Some of his properties have been in the meantime confiscated by financial regulators in Bangladesh under court directives.

Nazrul Islam Mazumder owns two exchange houses in foreign countries through which he mishandled remittances. This matter is at present under scrutiny. Bangladesh Bank, BFIU, ACC, Crime Investigation Department (CID) and some international organizations are working on Nazrul Islam Mazumder's explicit connections with outlawed financial deals and fraudulence.

Nazrul Islam Mazumder owns 6 residences in the capital's Tejgaon, Mohakhali and Gulshan areas. These residences' price amounts to 184 crore taka according to land papers while these properties currently have a market price of 4 thousand 600 crore taka. Nazrul Islam Mazumder possesses 8 plots in the capital's Purbachal area. These plots are equivalent to 37 crore 50 lakh taka. Relevant sources have informed that all these apartments and plots were purchased with illegal cash.

The authorities concerned in Bangladesh are having communications with foreign countries to retrieve Nazrul Islam Mazumder's asset value unlawfully piled up in foreign countries. 5 of these properties are located in the United Kingdom. Nassa Group's assets have been identified in a few islands controlled by Britain like Isle of Men and Jersey. These assets have a market price of 3 crore 79 lakh 50 thousand pounds or 5 crore 4 lakh dollars. 

Court orders have enabled authorities in Bangladesh to seize properties worth 890 crore taka amassed illegally by Nazrul Islam Mazumder. Back in 2019, Nazrul Islam Mazumder once boastfully said that his total asset volume is equivalent to 68 billion dollars. A wide range of newspapers and television channels including The Asian Age published corruption reports on Nazrul Islam Mazumder even while ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was in power but no action was taken by the then government because Nazrul Islam Mazumder donated 10 to 15 crore taka to Sheikh Hasina's official and personal funds every year according to financial sources. Nazrul Islam Mazumder also compelled newspapers by misusing his affiliation with influential spy agencies to remove graft reports on Nassa Group from websites. Allegations have also glared up that Nazrul Islam Mazumder extorted money from different private banks and he bribed Sheikh Hasina with a big chunk of those funds every now and then.

So far 52 bank accounts belonging to Nazrul Islam Mazumder have been freezed following court orders. These bank accounts hold a gigantic sum of 522 crore 48 lakh taka. Another 399 crore taka has been barred which were shares bought by Nazrul Islam Mazumder from 55 companies. Travel bans have been imposed on Nazrul Islam Mazumder, his wife and children. Primary investigations suggest that Nazrul Islam Mazumder laundered overseas at least 6 to 7 thousand crore taka during the immediate past regime. Nazrul Islam Mazumder was arrested and he is still inside prison in the wake of the downfall of Sheikh Hasina's government on 5 August 2024.

Professor Anu Muhammad of Jahangirnagar University said that the prosecution process of branded financial fraudsters needs to be speeded up by the interim government. Political parties may not show integrity regarding the trials of scammers and money launderers after elections, Anu Muhammad expressed worries.

BFIU chief Shahinul Islam said that there will be no lenience in the prosecution of the individuals who crippled banks and financial institutions during the overthrown fascist government's tenure. Shahinul Islam added that comprehensive inquiries are going on to ensure stern punishment for the oligarchs who devastated the country's banking sector.