Following Sheikh Hasina's fall in the wake of a student-led mass uprising, her party members—once seen as untouchable and invincible—faced the wrath of the public and the stark light of truth.

Salman F Rahman embodied this dramatic shift more than anyone else.

His shaven face, a stark departure from his previous saintly image with a white beard, coupled with his humiliating arrest on a nondescript boat, became a powerful reminder of the fate that awaits even the most influential individuals when their corruption is exposed after a mass uprising against a tyrannical regime.

During Sheikh Hasina's 15-year autocratic rule, Salman F Rahman was among the top three most influential figures in her administration.

Serving as a private industry and investment advisor, first for the Awami League and later for the Hasina government, he held the status of a cabinet minister.

Rahman’s Beximco Group, one of the largest conglomerates in Bangladesh with interests across various sectors, once earned him the title of "father of Bangladesh's corporate culture."

However, his accumulation of wealth is marred by allegations of share market manipulation and large-scale loan defaults—issues he allegedly navigated with the help of his political connections.

Salman F Rahman’s troubled history with bank loans and share market manipulation was well-documented, yet no one dared to thoroughly investigate or disclose it to the public.

Following Sheikh Hasina’s fall, it was revealed that Salman’s loan portfolio amounted to a staggering Tk 36,865 crore. Much of this debt had been obscured through numerous reschedulings, despite being overdue for classification.

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has now initiated a rapid investigation into Salman, focusing on allegations of major money laundering and financial sector irregularities.

According to high-placed CID sources who spoke to Bangla Outlook, Salman is primarily accused of laundering Tk 33,470 crore abroad, reportedly obtained through loans from seven banks over the past 15 years.

The pressing question now is what Salman F Rahman did with the enormous sum of laundered money and where he has invested it.

A substantial real estate portfolio owned by his only son, Ahmed Shayan Fazlur Rahman and his nephew Ahmed Shahryar Rahman—both British citizens—across London could serve as a key starting point for investigation and provide insight into the extent of the wealth in question.

Lavish flats in London

One of the most prominent properties owned by Ahmed Shayan Fazlur Rahman—commonly known as Shayan F Rahman—is 1 Grosvenor Square, an opulent building situated near Buckingham Palace in one of London’s most exclusive squares.

On March 7, 2022, an apartment on the second floor of this historic building, which boasts 5-star hotel amenities and embassy-level security, was sold for £26.5 million.

The purchase was made by a British Virgin Islands-registered entity named One Grosvenor Square, with Shayan F Rahman listed as the beneficiary.

Less than 350 meters away, at 17 Grosvenor Square, another historic townhouse has been converted into a luxury apartment complex.

An apartment on the sixth floor of this building was sold on June 25, 2010, for £6.55 million to Cricklewood Ventures, an Isle of Man-registered company whose beneficiary is also Shayan F Rahman.

Cricklewood Ventures shares its registered address with three trusts identified in the Pandora Papers.

Additionally, Shayan owns a semi-detached house in the affluent London neighborhood of Golders Green.

Acquired on January 28, 2011, for £1.2 million, this property is held by Ladybird Properties, which is registered at the same Isle of Man address as Cricklewood Ventures, with Shayan listed as the beneficiary.

Reports from Netra News, a Sweden-based outlet focusing on Bangladesh, indicate that Sheikh Rehana, Sheikh Hasina's younger sister, lives in this property rent-free.

Shayan’s cousin, Ahmed Shahryar Rahman, the son of Beximco chairman Ahmed Sohail Fasihur Rahman, has also built an impressive real estate portfolio in London’s prestigious Mayfair neighborhood.

Just a short distance from Shayan’s flagship property is 5 Grosvenor Square, another historic residential building typical of this upscale area.

On February 26, 2009, a Jersey-registered company named North Duke Holdings purchased two flats in this building for £3.1 million each.

The beneficiary of North Duke Holdings—whose registered address matches that of six individuals listed in the Panama Papers—is the 46-year-old Shahryar, often referred to as Shary.

Seven years later, Shahryar acquired another flat in the same building for £9 million through a different shell company, the Isle of Man-registered North Duke.

Additionally, he owns a townhouse just a five-minute walk away, purchased on October 21, 2010, for approximately £4.5 million through another Isle of Man-registered shell company called Creggan Consultancy.

In addition to his extensive real estate holdings, Shahryar—who is known for his bespoke shirts and suits from Savile Row tailor Turnbull & Asser, wears ‘Billionaire’ loafers from Loro Piana, smokes Davidoff cigars, and holds memberships at exclusive private clubs—has also amassed an impressive watch collection valued at over £2.5 million.

His collection features rare timepieces from prestigious brands such as Richard Mille, Patek Philippe, Cartier, Audemars Piguet, and Rolex.

Shahryar is a well-regarded figure in the watch collecting community and has been featured in fashion publications. In these features, he notes that he is involved in his family’s textile business in Bangladesh.

Possible indication of money laundering

Questions have emerged about how Shayan and Shahryar, both British citizens, were able to sustain a top 1% lifestyle in the UK given the capital account restrictions imposed by Bangladesh.

Records from Bangladesh Bank indicate that Beximco Pharmaceuticals, part of the Beximco Group, received approval to transfer $6 million to establish a factory in Sri Lanka.

However, there is no record of Shayan or Shahryar obtaining central bank permission for purchasing properties abroad, suggesting that their funds might have been laundered from Bangladesh.

Furthermore, neither is gainfully employed in the UK, raising further questions about the source of their wealth.

According to the annual report for Beximco Ltd for the 2022-23 financial year, Shahryar is listed as the CEO of both Beximco Ltd and its textile division.

Shayan, who owns a 2.11% stake in IFIC Bank, was removed as vice-chairman on August 14, 2024, following a default on a $24.4 million loan by Esses Fashions, a Beximco concern, from the central bank's Export Development Fund.

He also represented New Dacca Industries, another Beximco entity, on IFIC's board, where the Bangladeshi government holds a 32.75% stake.

Shayan's father, Salman, who held a ministerial position in Hasina's government, also owned a 2% stake in IFIC Bank and served as its chairman since 2010.

Neither Shahryar nor Shayan is listed as a director at Beximco Ltd or Beximco Pharma. Their fathers hold the positions of chairman and vice-chairman at these companies.

Even if the funds for their lavish lifestyle were gifts from their fathers, the companies’ reported profits and expected dividends would not be sufficient to support such an extravagant lifestyle in expensive cities like London and Singapore.

How were the funds managed?

An August 15 report in The Daily Star titled “Beximco Leaves Janata Bank in Poor Health” sheds some light on the possible origins of the funds.

By the end of June, Janata Bank’s total exposure to the Beximco Group had reached Tk 25,000 crore, which amounts to approximately 950% of the bank’s paid-up capital—far exceeding its single-borrower exposure limit.

The report, citing bank documents, reveals that 72% of Beximco’s outstanding loans with Janata have defaulted.

According to information from current and former Janata officials, Rahman, who served as Sheikh Hasina’s private industry and investment adviser, secured substantial loans through the Janata board and central bank officials by circumventing banking rules and regulations.

His influence with the Hasina administration helped him obtain special approval for these large loans, the officials reported on the condition of anonymity.

Furthermore, Rahman was known for frequently rescheduling loans and negotiating favorable terms to ensure that Beximco avoided classification as a defaulter, the officials added.

For instance, a significant portion of Beximco’s loans was rescheduled in June 2022, with the remainder rescheduled in June of the following year.

A substantial portion of these loans subsequently defaulted, and a new rescheduling proposal was presented at the bank’s board meeting on July 30, but it was not approved, according to the documents.

“That’s why around Tk 18,000 crore of Beximco’s loans have become problematic,” a Janata official told The Daily Star on condition of anonymity due to concerns about retaliation.

Beximco is also one of the leading borrowers from state banks like Sonali, Agrani, and Rupali.

Salman F Rahman further leveraged his influence to manipulate stock market regulations. For example, he succeeded in getting the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission to approve Sukuks, Shariah-compliant bonds.

Beximco raised Tk 3,000 crore through these Sukuks to fund its two solar power plants and to expand its textile division.

Subsequently, Bangladesh Bank permitted banks to invest in Sukuk bonds from the capital market’s special fund, with such investments excluded from capital market exposure limits. According to the Banking Act, banks can invest up to 25% of their capital in the stock market.

This development was attributed to Salman F Rahman, who used his influence to secure funding for this new debt instrument, which was considered his initiative.

Salman also managed to persuade the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) to approve a Tk 1,000 crore bond for a relatively obscure real estate company named Sreepur Township, which had no prior track record for a housing project in Gazipur.

Beximco concerns were beneficiaries of Sreepur Township, and the bond was guaranteed by IFIC Bank, highlighting another instance of Rahman leveraging his influence to navigate conflicts of interest.

On September 1, the BSEC established an investigation committee to examine the approval process for these two Beximco bonds.

Salman F Rahman has been in police custody since August 13 over multiple murder cases and Bangla Outlook found no way to contact him for his comment.

Bangla Outlook contacted both Shayan and Shahryar but they never replied back.

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