832 bhori gold recovered from Sheikh Hasina’s Agrani Bank vaults

National Board of Revenue's Central Intelligence Cell (CIC) has recovered 832 bhori of gold ornaments from two vaults registered to ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina at the principal branch of Agrani Bank in Dhaka's Motijheel.

A senior CIC official confirmed the development on Tuesday night.

According to officials, vaults numbered 751 and 753 were opened today by a joint team of the CIC and other government agencies, in line with Bangladesh Bank regulations.

On the same day, another vault belonging to the former prime minister at Pubali Bank's Motijheel branch was opened, but no assets were found there, officials said.

The vault at Agrani Bank was taken over by the CIC on 17 September this year. A week earlier, on September 10, the CIC had also taken control of the vault at Pubali Bank's Motijheel branch.

According to officials, the actions are part of the NBR's investigation into allegations of tax evasion against Sheikh Hasina, who fled to India on August 5 following the July Uprising.

As part of the probe, the tax authority has already frozen all her bank accounts.

Earlier on March 18, a Dhaka court ordered the freezing of over Tk394 crore kept in 31 bank accounts linked to Hasina and her family members at the request of the Anti-Corruption Commission. The family members include her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy, daughter Saima Wazed Putul, sister Sheikh Rehana, and members of Rehana's family.

Before that, the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit identified Tk635.14 crore in 124 frozen bank accounts belonging to Hasina, her relatives, and associated individuals and institutions.

Bangladesh Bank disclosed the information during a high-level meeting on money laundering prevention chaired by Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus at his official residence Jamuna on March 10.