The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has fined Eastern Bank chairman Shaukat Ali Chowdhury for ₹ 87 million in undisclosed foreign assets detected in the UK.
The order was issued on March 15th, enforcing the provisions of undisclosed foreign assets under the Income Tax Act. The concerned officials said that through the fine, the same value of the assets abroad has been laid the legal basis for the income of the country.
According to Section 21 of the Income Tax Act, if a Bangladeshi taxpayer finds foreign assets not mentioned in the income tax return and if he fails to give a satisfactory explanation about the legitimate source of the asset, the same amount of money can be fined. If the fine is not paid, there is also an opportunity to collect money by confiscation or selling the assets of the person concerned according to the law.
According to LTU sources, Shaukat Ali Chowdhury paid a tax of about Rs 136 crore against this undisclosed asset in May this year. However, the penalty has not yet been paid.
Meanwhile, government efforts to return $25 million to the UK have not been successful. Officials of the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) said the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) had sought evidence before the money was returned, which showed that the money was illegally acquired not only under the law of Bangladesh but also under UK law. Although there was a series of contacts between the two authorities, the legal deadline for the four weeks was over. In the meantime, Shaukat Ali transferred the money to the United Arab Emirates, sources said. Efforts are currently being made to recover the money.
In a letter sent to the BFIU in February this year, the UK’s financial intelligence agency said Shaukat Ali Chowdhury’s $25 million had been locked down for four weeks. At the same time, they conditioned that the matter could not be shared with any other company or court in Bangladesh during that time.
According to the BFIU, the investigation against Shaukat Ali Chowdhury is still ongoing. Necessary legal action will be taken after the investigation. Acting chairman of the NBR Ahsan Habib also said the government is actively working to recover the money abroad. On the other hand, Shaukat Ali Chowdhury has sought a written statement in this regard, but he did not respond until the writing of this report.