The National Board of Revenue has identified the bank accounts of more than 200 individuals and businesses over allegations of financing the ongoing labour unrest in the readymade garment sector.
The tax authority has asked the Bangladesh Bank to freeze the accounts of 100 suspected individuals and sought transaction details from banks for 104 business entities, NBR officials familiar with the development say.
The individuals and entities under scrutiny include former ministers, former lawmakers, political figures, and owners of several major industrial groups. Most of the individuals named are linked to the activity-banned Awami League government, which was ousted in 2024, officials said.
The NBR’s Central Intelligence Cell and Tax Intelligence and Investigation Unit have issued letters to banks seeking account details and the suspension of transactions involving the suspected individuals.
An NBR official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told New Age that the move followed information provided by several government agencies.
The authority was also examining the financial transactions of several companies to determine whether they had financed activities aimed at destabilising the RMG sector.
The official said preliminary investigations had found that 40 to 50 social media groups had been opened to fuel unrest in the sector.
Investigators had found links between the groups and some of the individuals and entities under scrutiny.
Some people allegedly received money through mobile financial services, while others received cash, the official said.
The NBR is examining the sources and patterns of these transactions to verify the allegations, the official added.
The list includes former prime minister’s investment adviser Salman F Rahman, former commerce minister Tipu Munshi, former foreign affairs state minister Shahriar Alam, former power state minister Nasrul Hamid, former lawmaker Abdus Salam Murshedy and former lawmaker Ilias Uddin Mollah.
Former state minister Tajul Islam and AL joint general secretary Bahauddin Nasim were also named.
Among the business figures under scrutiny are Faizur Rahman Badal of Tusuka Group, Abdus Salam of Well Group, Md Khosru Chowdhury of Nipa Group, AKM Mosharraf Hossain of Standard Group and SM Mannan Kochi, a former president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association.
The investigation covers companies under several industrial groups, including Mondol Group, Tusuka Group, Givency Group, Envoy Group, Standard Group, Nipa Group, and Well Group.
Mondol Group has the most companies under scrutiny, with 28 entities, followed by Tusuka Group with nine. Givency and Envoy groups each have five companies, while Standard, Nipa, and Well groups have three each.
Officials said accounts of some family members of the suspected individuals were also targeted.
