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The UN is relocating its agencies in Dhaka to a building complex owned by one of the families accused by Bangladesh’s interim government of illegally funnelling millions of dollars out of the country, the Financial Times has learnt.
The UN Common Premises, which will soon house UN agencies in the Bangladeshi capital, is owned by the Bashundhara Group, a property and industrial group controlled by the Sobhan family.
The Sobhans are one of the families in the sights of Muhammad Yunus’s interim government as it seeks to recover billions of dollars that it believes were embezzled under Sheikh Hasina, the authoritarian leader who was deposed in mass protests last year.
Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission is investigating allegations of unexplained wealth, including overseas assets, against Bashundhara chair Ahmed Akbar Sobhan and a number of his family members, the government agency told the FT.
The FT reported last month that members of the Sobhan family had purchased at least $65mn worth of properties in the UK, acquiring 26 assets in total.
Bashundhara, established in the 1980s by Sobhan, has grown into a dominant force in Bangladesh’s economy, with interests spanning property, cement, paper, steel and shipping. But its expansion has at times attracted allegations of land grabbing and financial misconduct.
In September, Bangladesh’s Criminal Investigation Department also named the company, Sobhan and Sayem Sobhan Anvir, managing director of Bashundhara, as subjects of an investigation into alleged money laundering.
The Sobhans did not respond to a request for comment made via Bashundhara.
The UN resident co-ordinator’s office in Dhaka told the FT that the world body was “very much aware” of the allegations against Bashundhara, Sobhan and his family members.
According to the UN, the decision to relocate to the complex in Dhaka’s upscale Gulshan district was made last year, before the wave of student-led protests that ended Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year rule in August.
“All preparations and decision-making related to the UN Common Premises in Bangladesh have been carried out in accordance with UN rules and regulations and best practices on due diligence, and a rigorous due diligence process has been conducted,” the UN said, adding that it was “unable to comment on ongoing investigations”.
A UN report last month found that government security and intelligence agencies “systematically engaged in a range of serious human rights violations” in a crackdown against last year’s protests that killed more than 1,400 people.
“We hope the UN will reconsider its decision,” Asif Nazrul, the Yunus government’s adviser on justice, told the FT.
UN employees in Dhaka said the move was part of a broader global cost-cutting initiative aiming at consolidating agencies in the city under one roof for the first time.
However, the decision could intensify scrutiny over the UN’s financial dealings and ethical considerations, particularly as Bangladesh’s interim authorities step up efforts to recover assets linked to the country’s elite, said experts.
A report on Bangladesh’s economy commissioned by the interim government in December estimated that the country lost $16bn annually to money laundering during Sheikh Hasina’s rule from 2009 to 2024.
Yunus has described the alleged looting by elites as “highway robbery” and insisted the money “has to be brought back”.
“Bangladesh needs to recover the billions embezzled under the previous regime to ensure macroeconomic stability and long-term growth,” said Mushfiq Mobarak, an economics professor at Yale University who has worked for the World Bank and IMF.
“International partners, including the UN, have important roles to play to facilitate this.”
