NCA freezes £90m of London property linked to former Bangladesh regime

The UK’s serious and organised crime agency has frozen almost £90m of luxury London property belonging to two men linked to the deposed ruler of Bangladesh. In a development that comes after mounting pressure on the UK to assist Bangladesh in tracing assets linked to the former regime, the National Crime Agency (NCA) obtained nine freezing orders, official records show. The orders prevent Ahmed Shayan Rahman and his cousin, Ahmed Shahryar Rahman, from selling property, including apartments in London’s Grosvenor Square. The pair were named in a Guardian investigation into UK assets owned by allies of Bangladesh’s former autocratic ruler, Sheikh Hasina. The properties frozen by the NCA include one in Gresham Gardens, north London.