Dhaka, August 18-- The Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) has ordered the freezing of bank accounts belonging to Awami League's advisory council member, Amir Hossain Amu, along with those of his children and businesses owned by them. This directive, issued on Sunday, will halt all transactions from these accounts for the next 30 days as part of an ongoing investigation.

The BFIU, which functions under the central bank of Bangladesh, issued the instructions to all banks and financial institutions across the country, citing Section 26(2) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Rules, 2019. The freeze extends to both personal and business accounts linked to Amir Hossain Amu and his family, effectively suspending all financial activities during this period.

In addition to the account freeze, the BFIU has requested detailed information from the banks regarding these accounts, including account opening forms, KYC (Know Your Customer) documents, and transaction statements. Banks have been given a five-day deadline to submit these documents.

This financial scrutiny follows a significant incident on the night of August 5, when the Awami League government fell. The army and police reportedly recovered approximately five crore rupees, including foreign currency, from Amu's residence in Jhalkathi. The discovery was made after fire service personnel, responding to a fire at his residence on Ronalse Road, found large sums of money stashed in luggage. The authorities were then notified, leading to the recovery of the funds.

Amir Hossain Amu, a prominent figure in Bangladeshi politics and a former Member of Parliament for Jhalkathi-2, has yet to publicly comment on the seizure of his accounts and the ongoing investigation.