On the eve of Rajshahi City Corporation's (RCC) mayoral election in 2008, the annual income of AHM Khairuzzaman Liton, the then a simple local leader of Awami League (AL), was only Tk 2 lakh 44 thousand. In 2018 and 2023, it increased to Tk 78 lakh 32 thousand and around 3 crores respectively. Till then, they didn’t have the ownership of any any high profile limited company. 

In just one year, this relatively new presidium member of the ruling party and his family members have become directors in 6 companies one by one.

A sample of Khairuzzaman Liton's growing wealth and his family's astonishing financial rise can be found by comparing his election affidavits filed from 2008 to 2023. In the 2003 affidavit, Liton showed movable assets of Tk 4 crore 17 lakh 62 thousand 899. In 2018, his total assets were worth 1 crore 75 lakh taka, which was only 5 lakh 29 thousand taka in 2008.

Liton's wife, Shaheen Akhtar Reni, had no income till 2018, according to information provided in the affidavit. However, in just 4 years in 2023, she earned 3 crore 10 lakh taka a year from ‘business and fish farming’. During this time, Reni became the owner of 2 crore 20 lakh movable assets and 1.77 acres of agricultural land in addition to a fish farm worth Tk 79 lakh. She also Built a two-storied house in the suburbs of the city.

Already, the information of the Awami League Presidium Member’s family’s involvement  in two UK and Dubai-based offshore companies has surfaced in multiple media outlets in Dhaka. 

Khairuzzaman Liton has also arranged to publish a letter of rejoinder. He claimed that he and his family have nothing to do with the company called Seabond Shipping. But an investigation by The Mirror Asia found that Khairuzzaman Liton and his daughter Anika Fariha Zaman have close business ties with Seabond Shipping. According to the investigation by The Mirror Asia, he and his family are currently business partners in not two, but six limited companies, at least four of which are shipping companies. All of them have been built within a year or so since Liton ran for a third term as mayor in the 2023 election.

The unholy nexus:

The mysterious activities of RCC Mayor AHM Khairuzzaman Liton and his family's business partners made headlines in the Dhaka media last week, citing a 24-page report by a Bangladeshi intelligence agency that said the entire family has been involved in business dealings with a company called the Amana Group. 

The investigative media reports claim that a couple of years ago, a company named Uttarayan Amana City took the initiative to build a private housing project with 6 thousand bigha of land in Rajshahi metropolis, which was chaired by Liton's wife Shaheen Akhtar Reni, who is also the vice president of the local Awami League. 

Through this housing company, Mrs. Reni also became one of the directors of the Amana Group. Recently, there were allegations against this company for selling project plots by showing lands that are owned by others. Apart from this, there were allegations against the Amana Group of withdrawing about BDT 800 crore from the common people following the process of Multi Level Marketing (MLM), which allegations were also reported to the administration in writing. But surprisingly, no action was taken against them by the administration.

On October 1, 2023, Amana Group Chairman Fazlul Karim, Managing Director Masudul Haque and Executive Director Abu Sayed Chowdhury joined as directors of a mysterious company named Apollo Nova Capital Limited of Oxted, Britain. 

The latest registered address of Apollo Nova Capital, a one GBP company, is Flat 5, Hardwick House, Eden Place, Oxted. After becoming a director in the company, the previous director Tahir Rauf, a Pakistani national living the UK was given the post of company secretary. 

On October 4, 2023, the name of Apollo Nova Capital Limited was changed to Amana Big Bazaar. However, according to the central bank of Bangladesh, Amana Group has not sought any approval for foreign investment so far. 

Another company was registered at the same address on May 2 this year. The company name is Swiss Mars Group Limited. Abu Sayed Chowdhury, Executive Director of Amana Group, is also the director of this company along with Tahir Rauf, who is also a business partner of Nosheena Mobarik, a member of House of Lords, UK.

All the three Amana officials are business partners of Liton-Reni couple. Their daughter Anika Fariha Zaman has also business partnership with them. Their another business partner is Lt. General (Retd.) Abul Hossain, who was hurriedly withdrawn from the post of DG of BGB even before the completion of his term due to serious reasons found by the Government of Bangladesh. They have a registered company called Sea Bond Shipping, in which there is one more director named Dr. M. A. A. Sardar, whose real name is Mohammad Alamgir Akhtar Sardar. He is the Director of River Edge Shipping Private Limited Company in Park Street, Kolkata.

The investigation also revealed that there are shipping companies with the same name in Pakistan and Dubai. In Pakistan its name is River Edge Shipping Private Limited but in Dubai it is registered as River Edge Shipping LLC. A Pakistani named Zafar Habib is associated with the company in both these countries. It is suspected that this business network is aiming for Trade Based Money Laundering (TBML), according to news reports.

A desperate attempt to give legs to lie:

In the rejoinder given by AHM Khairuzzaman Liton after this investigative news report was published in the Dhaka media, he claimed that his and his daughter's names were falsely linked to a company called Seabond Shipping. But investigations by The Mirror Asia revealed that the website operated by a Bangladesh-registered company named Seabond Shipping Limited, had its domain registered on May 23, 2023 in the name of Zafar Habib from a Dubai address. Prior to the news release on June 11, 2024, both liton and his daughter's names were appearing on their board of directors list with photos on this website. The website archive shows that the names and pictures were removed a day after the news was published.

In rejoinder, this presidium member of Awami League also claimed that the company named 'Rajshahi Port PLC' was formed by him to establish a river port in Rajshahi as a private initiative. Although Amana chairman Fazlul Karim is a director here, the company is not affiliated with Amana in any way, Liton said. But in its investigations, The Mirror Asia found a completely different picture.

In fact, Khairuzzaman Liton and his daughter Anika Fariha Zaman are not only associated with one or two companies. Apart from Rajshahi Port PLC, there are 4 other companies where he or his daughter posted as directors, the proof of which has been obtained by The Mirror Asia. 

The name of Seabond Shipping Limited is clearly mentioned in the list of board of directors of these companies. Each company has some of the Amana Group directors. Besides, Amana International Private Limited is included in the list of Board of Directors of two companies among all.

According to the documents of the Bangladesh Joint Stock Registrar, a company called 'Sultanganj Port PLC' has been formed with 9 directors, one of which is Liton's daughter Anika Fariha Zaman. He owns 20,000 shares of this company. Masudul Haque, Managing Director of Amana Group is a director of this company. Amana International Private Limited, represented by Abdus Sattar, is on the list. The Board of Directors of Sultanganj Port PLC also includes the name of Seabond Shipping Limited, whose representative is Khairul Bari.

Khairuzzaman Liton and his daughter Anika Fariha Zaman are both on the board of directors of another company named Padma Distripark PLC. Mayor Liton is the chairman of this company with 2,200 shares. His daughter holds 1,600 shares. Amana Group Chairman Fazlul Karim and Managing Director Masudul Haque both have 1,000 shares each in the 7-member board of directors of this company. Lt. General (Retd.) Abul Hossain, one of the directors of Seabond Shipping Limited also hold the directorship as a representative of Eagle Ridge Construction and Engineering (BD) Limited.

AHM Khairuzzaman Liton is also the chairman of Barendra Shipping Lines PLC, who holds 2,200 shares. Lt. General (Retd.) Abul Hussain, who is representing Eagle Ridge Construction and Engineering (BD) Limited here as well, is one of the directors of this company with an equal number of shares. Fazlul Karim and Abu Sayed Chowdhury of Amana Group are also directors in this company.

According to the documents obtained by The Mirror Asia, Anika Fariha Zaman is one of the directors of another company named 'Indo Bangla Lines PLC'. Along with Amana Group MD Masudul Haque, the name of Amana International Private Limited is on the board of directors of this company. Seabond Shipping Limited is also named in the Board of Directors of 9 members here.

Another name keeps coming back among the companies surveyed by The Mirror Asia. That name is Md. Shamsuzzaman. He is popularly known as Awal in Rajshahi. He has been Mayor Liton's business partner for a long time. He is a director of FBCCI as a representative of Rajshahi Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The Mirror Asia tried to contact Md. Shamsuzzaman's several times over the last few days, but it has been found to be unreachable. Despite several attempts, AHM Khairuzzaman Liton and his daughter did not pick up the phone. As a result, it was not possible to get a statement from either of them.