CID seizes Rongdhanu Group Chairman Rafiqul’s hotel

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has seized Rongdhanu Group Chairman Rafiqul Islam’s luxury hotel Unique Regency in Dhaka’s Banani and frozen Tk 338.1 million deposited in a cooperative bank, following a court order in a money laundering case.

On August 7, CID filed a case against Rafiqul and his associates for laundering Tk 8.78 billion. The court earlier ordered the freezing of 13 bank accounts and seizure of a 100,000-square-foot commercial space in Jamuna Future Park.

In its latest statement on Monday (September 1), CID said the seized assets include a nine-storey building on 6.2 acres of land housing Hotel Unique Regency, along with Tk 338.1 million kept as collateral in Samabaya Bank. The agency’s Financial Crime Unit is investigating the sources of the funds, tracing assets smuggled abroad, and identifying other suspects.

According to the case, Rafiqul’s companies fraudulently took massive loans from several banks, including Tk 4 billion from Islami Bank (Baridhara), Tk 27 billion from Fast Security Islami Bank (Bashundhara), and Tk 200 billion from Union Bank (Gulshan), which remain unpaid. He also allegedly laundered $2 million abroad to acquire citizenship in Antigua and Barbuda.

The case further accuses Rafiqul’s sons of illegally reselling land, embezzling Tk 57.36 million, and securing hundreds of crores in loans using fake work orders and forged valuation reports.

Rafiqul, currently under a travel ban imposed in October last year after the fall of the Awami League government, is also facing a separate Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) probe over allegations of loan embezzlement.