The Nicosia district court has frozen a property in Parekklisia owned by Bangladeshi businessman Mohammed Saiful Alam and his wife following a request submitted by Bangladeshi authorities as part of an ongoing criminal investigation into alleged bank fraud and money laundering.

The freezing order was issued on May 19 after an application by the anti-money laundering unit (Mokas).

The request was made through mutual legal assistance procedures initiated by authorities in Bangladesh.

Alam denies any wrongdoing.

Alam is the founder and chairman of the S Alam Group and acquired Cypriot citizenship in 2016 through the Cyprus citizen-by-investment programme, known colloquially as the ‘golden passports scheme’.

The property subject to the order is a two-storey residence in Parekklisia.

According to documents submitted to Cypriot authorities, Bangladeshi investigators are examining allegations relating to the operation of a network of companies and financial transactions between 2009 and 2024.

The investigation involves claims of fraudulent lending, unlawful asset accumulation and money laundering.

A day after the freezing order was issued, a Bangladeshi court sentenced Alam and ten relatives and associates to five months’ imprisonment in connection with a loan equivalent to approximately €6 million granted by Islami Bank to a subsidiary of the S Alam Group.

Bangladeshi media reported that the financing was intended for the purchase of 134 buses which were not acquired.

The Bangladeshi investigation extends beyond that case, for according to the request transmitted to Cyprus, authorities are investigating allegations that companies linked to Alam secured substantial loans from a number of financial institutions, including Islami Bank Bangladesh and First Security Islami Bank.

The request states that many of those loans later defaulted and that investigators are examining whether funds obtained through those facilities were transferred abroad through a network of companies and financial structures operating across multiple jurisdictions.

Bangladesh’s central bank governor has publicly described the case as involving more than €8 billion allegedly transferred out of the country. Bangladeshi authorities believe assets connected to the investigation may be located in Cyprus, Singapore and other jurisdictions.

Part of the investigation concerns ACLARE International, a Cyprus registered company acquired by Alam in 2016 after the purchase of ACLARE Investment Ltd.

Bangladeshi authorities are examining whether the company was used in transactions linked to the movement of funds under investigation.

Court filings also refer to a network of companies and trusts in Cyprus, the British Virgin Islands and Jersey.

Investigators are seeking to determine the ownership structures and financial activity connected to those entities.

Through legal representation with international law firm Quinn Emanuel, he has stated that his investments were funded through legitimate foreign sources and that actions taken against him are unjustified.

He has also initiated proceedings before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, arguing that measures affecting his assets, including those subject to freezing orders, violate international investment protection agreements.

Alam obtained Cypriot citizenship through the golden passport scheme, which was terminated by the government.

He does not appear in the findings of the Nikolatos Committee report, which examined the operation of the programme.