A court in Cyprus has seized a property owned by Bangladeshi businessman Mohammad Saiful Alam, known as S Alam, and his wife as part of an ongoing investigation into bank fraud and money laundering. The Nicosia District Court issued the order on May 19 following a request from the Cypriot anti-money laundering unit MOKAS, acting under a mutual legal assistance process initiated by Bangladeshi authorities. The seized asset is a two-storey residential building located in Parekklisia.

According to documents submitted to Cypriot authorities, Bangladeshi investigators are examining allegations of fraudulent lending, illegal asset accumulation, and money laundering linked to a network of companies and financial transactions between 2009 and 2024. S Alam, founder and chairman of the S Alam Group, obtained Cypriot citizenship in 2016 through the now-defunct “Golden Passport” program.

A day after the seizure order, a Bangladeshi court sentenced Saiful, ten relatives, and associates to five months in jail over a loan case involving about 6 million euros from Islami Bank. Authorities in Dhaka allege that companies linked to him defaulted on large loans and transferred funds abroad through entities registered in Cyprus, the British Virgin Islands, and Jersey.