Probe Into Wealth Abroad: S Alam seeks injunction on all media

S Alam Group Chairman Mohammed Saiful Alam and his wife Farzana Parveen have filed a petition with the Supreme Court, seeking a blanket injunction against "any and all discourses" about the now-stalled investigation into S Alam's wealth abroad.

The injunction they seek applies to electronic and print media as well as social media – a blackout on the topic.

They also named The Daily Star, Prothom Alo, New Age and SC lawyer Barrister Syed Sayedul Haque Suman, and petitioned that the court restrain them from publishing or broadcasting any statements, opinions, reports, remarks, or online videos "touching the merit" of the Appellate Division's decision to put on hold the enquiry into Alam's assets abroad.

The petition, filed on Tuesday, is slated to be heard today.

The petition says "their [Alam and Farzana] personal and business reputations have been seriously affected" because of the discourse. They called the damage irreparable.

In a suo moto order, the High Court on August 6 asked the Anti-Corruption Commission to probe Alam's wealth abroad after The Daily Star published an investigative report on his overseas businesses.

On August 23, Justice M Enayetur Rahim, chamber judge of the Appellate Division, ordered a status quo on the probe, until January 8, 2024, when the matter will be heard before a full bench, led by the chief justice.

Alam and Farzana allege in their petition that The Daily Star, Prothom Alo and New Age, and Barrister Suman have violated the status quo by "passing negative remarks and making defamatory statements against the applicants".

They further claim that this is all being done with the intention to harass them.

"Since last year, The Daily Star has been intentionally targeting the petitioner and his business concerns, S Alam Group, by publishing frivolous news and spreading propagandas," the petition alleges.

"The said newspapers have also been threatening the applicants to publish further news regarding the same subject matter.

"From an insider source it has been found out that The Daily Star has been gathering information to further report on the S Alam Group ahead of the national elections," it claims.

"Several newspaper reporters have started working in different branches of Dhaka and Chattogram to report on the S Alam Group as well as Islami Bank Ltd. In parallel, another report is being prepared on the close relatives of the Chairman for the sole purpose of harassing the petitioner and his close associates and relatives.

"Since the national election is coming, the said reports are likely to be prepared and published with the ulterior motive to attack the government and other organisations which have been developing the economy of the country under the ruling government," the petition claims.

While on the one hand The Daily Star gives the impression that it supports democracy,  but "it seeks by underhand methods by attacking business houses which are known to support the government, thereby attacking a particular political party."

"This is the worst form of abuse that any journalist or any mainstream media house can perpetrate on democracy and the electoral processes in Bangladesh," it adds.

"Such an action may kindly be prevented by this Honourable Court," the couple pleads.

The petition describes Alam as an exceptional businessman, and speaks of his contributions to the economy and continuous support for the nation.

The petition speaks about how the report published by The Daily Star titled "S Alam's Aladdin's Lamp" on August 4 was "baseless, frivolous, false, inaccurate and unsupported".

The aforementioned investigation by The Daily Star found S Alam has built a business empire in Singapore worth at least about $1 billion, although there is no record of him taking any permission from Bangladesh Bank to invest or transfer any funds abroad.

The Bangladesh central bank has so far allowed 17 companies to invest outside the country, and this Chattogram-based business giant is not among them, according to Bangladesh Bank documents cited in the report.

Yet in Singapore, Alam bought at least two hotels, two homes, one retail space, and other properties over the last one decade, all the while seeking to remove his name from the paper trails, documents obtained from Singaporean regulatory authorities show.

To set up his business in Singapore, he and his wife used Cypriot citizenship, according to The Daily Star findings. That investigation also tracked down his businesses in Cyprus and the British Virgin Islands.

In their Tuesday's petition for a gag order, Alam and his wife said they have foreign nationality or are incorporated in foreign countries and the relevant Bangladeshi laws do not have extra-territorial effect and do not permit investigation. "Otherwise, it would become possible to investigate and report on foreign assets of all expatriate Bangladeshi citizens or persons of Bangladeshi origin."

The petition also delves into comments by Barrister Suman in a TV interview regarding the Appellate Division's status quo order, stalling the ACC investigation.

"Suman has inferred that the order of status quo has been obtained because of the presence of bigshot lawyers. He also inferred that because of the order passed by this court his heart has been bleeding [...] He further inferred that journalists have not been publishing enough news about the corruption of the applicants," reads the petition.

"Most illegally Suman has stated that this type of order encouraged general people to do money laundering," it adds.

The petition asks the court to take actions to have all videos of Suman concerning the topic removed.