Mintoo and his family members were earlier named in the Paradise Papers, leaked in 2017
BNP leader Abdul Awal Mintoo’s name came in the Pandora Papers files, leaked on Sunday, as a partner of Nepalese business tycoon Binod Chaudhary.
According to the Nepali Times, Bangladeshi businessman and BNP Vice Chairman Abdul Awal Mintoo is involved with one of Binod Chaudhary’s companies Cinnovation Incorporated.
The report, however, did not provide any details on the nature of Mintoo’s involvement with the company.
A global investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) has revealed that well known political and business figures around the world are using tax havens for money laundering.
The Pandora Papers reveal that Binod Chaudhary has companies in the BVI in the names of his wife and three sons, Nirvana, Varun, and Rahul.
The Chaudhary family has registered the companies Cinnovation Incorporated, CG Hotels and Resorts Limited, Sensei Capital Partners Inc. in BVI, and CG Hospitality Holdings Global Pte Ltd in Singapore, Nepali Times reported.
The Pandora Papers has minute details of company correspondence, share and money transfers and other transactions between Chaudhary family members and partners. Some of the names mentioned are Pakistani, Singaporean, Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi.
The Paradise Papers
Earlier, Mintoo was one of notable names that was on the list of the Paradise Papers, leaked in 2017.
It said that Mintoo had registered his energy company NFM Energy Ltd, a company which uses Multimode Group’s address in Bangladesh, in tax haven Bermuda on August 9, 1999.
The corporate management of Multimode Group is comprised of Mintoo and his family. The Bangladeshi citizens named are Abdul Awal Mintoo, Nasreen Fatema Awal, Tabith Md Awal, Tafsir Mohammed Awal, Tajwar Muhammed Awal, Foysal Chowdhury, Farida Moghul, Shahid Ullah, and Samir Ahmad.
Also Read- BNP Vice-Chairman Mintoo listed in Paradise Papers leak
Mintoo was investigated in 2018 by the Anti-corruption Commission over money laundering and loan extortion allegations.
In the Paradise Papers, only one Bangladesh-based organization -- Brummer & Partner Asset Management (Bangladesh) Limited -- was found. But there were several organizations which operate in Bangladesh, but are based in Bermuda and other tax haven countries.
The name of businessman Moosa Bin Shamsher also appeared in the Paradise Papers.
The documents claimed that Moosa Bin Shamsher registered a company named Venus Overseas in 2010 in Malta, an offshore tax heaven while another Bangladeshi Shahnaz Huda Razzak registered two companies -- Ocean Ice Shipping and Priyam Shipping in Malta between 1999 and 2001.
The Panama Papers
In 2016, at least 24 individuals, five entities and around 20 addresses linked to Bangladesh were found in the new Panama Papers database released by the ICIJ.
One of the entities mentioned on the list was Bangladesh Biman Inc. Although the flag carrier of Bangladesh is currently named Biman Bangladesh Airlines Ltd, its previous official name was Biman Bangladesh Corporation.
The other Bangladesh-linked entities listed in the Panama Papers were Islamic Solidarity Shipping Company Bangladesh Inc, Bangladesh Textile Agencies Ltd, Swayne Investments Ltd and Seven Seas Assets Ltd.
The database also had 20 addresses across Bangladesh; although most of the addresses are in Dhaka city.
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