A UK court has issued a freezing order over a £15 million luxury apartment near Regent's Park in London following an investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA) into alleged embezzlement, corruption, fraud and money laundering.
Mrs Justice Karen Steyn granted the order after finding there was a "good arguable case that the property represented the proceeds of crime", says the Financial Times.
Land Registry records show Bangladeshi businessman Anisuzzaman "Ronny" Chowdhury purchased the apartment in 2023 for £12.4 million through his company, Ronny 42 Limited.
In September 2025, Chowdhury transferred the company holding the property, renamed PNN UK Properties, to a third party for a nominal £1, although the total value of the share sale was £14.95 million.
An NCA investigator described the ownership arrangement in court filings as "deliberately opaque", alleging it was designed to conceal the property's true ownership. NCA lawyers described the £1 transaction in written submissions as "nothing more than an arrangement of convenience" intended to help refinance loans with Singapore's DBS Bank.
The agency also alleged that the financial structure was designed "to ultimately return control to his wife and two daughters".
Chowdhury was made subject to an Unexplained Wealth Order last year, requiring him to demonstrate that the property had been acquired with legitimate funds. Under UK anti-corruption law, failure to comply creates a legal presumption that the property was obtained through unlawful conduct.
Documents cited in fraud investigation
An NCA officer's witness statement from July said Chowdhury lived in the UK and used the apartment as his principal residence.
The officer also said documents associated with the arrangement contained forged signatures attributed to former US President Richard Nixon, former UK Prime Minister David Cameron and singer Chris Brown. Investigators cited the documents as evidence of what they described as a "cavalier" attitude to fraud.
Links to former Bangladeshi minister
Chowdhury is the brother of Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, Bangladesh's former land minister under former prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
After Hasina's government fell in August 2024, Bangladesh's interim administration, led by economist Muhammad Yunus, began tracing overseas assets allegedly acquired with illicit funds.
Saifuzzaman Chowdhury and his family had built a property portfolio valued at $295 million. In June 2025, the NCA froze £185 million in UK properties linked to the former minister.
Anisuzzaman Chowdhury has previously said he has "no business relation" with his brother.
Chowdhury denies wrongdoing
Chowdhury's solicitors did not oppose the NCA's application for the freezing order in court. However, he has publicly denied any unlawful conduct and said he would contest any subsequent civil recovery proceedings.
"On legal advice I did not contest the NCA's application for a [property freezing order] but I have not engaged in any unlawful conduct and if the NCA chooses to bring civil recovery proceedings, I will defend the proceedings strenuously and demonstrate that the allegations against me are untrue."
Chowdhury also denied disguising the property's ownership, saying it had been "transparently disclosed" to the NCA.
He said he would "thoroughly defend any defamatory statement against my wife and children who have nothing to do with this."