Bangladeshi Politician Close to Prime Minister Hasina Secretly Owns Over $4 Million in New York Real Estate
Lack of Disclosure
The most detailed public account of Miah’s finances was given in a statement of assets required for his parliamentary run in 2018.
In Bangladesh, he declared a five-story building in Dhaka’s Mirpur neighborhood, which he valued at about $40,000, and which earned about $6,000 per year in rent. He also declared about $336,000 in stocks and other investments, roughly $142,000 in bank deposits, and around $32,000 worth of gold.
His wife, Gulshan Ara Miah, disclosed a separate annual income of about $103,000 from her 50-percent ownership of Roots Communication, a telecommunication company. She also disclosed property valued at about $62,500 in Dhaka’s Uttara neighborhood, bank deposits of about $203,000, investments of about $737,000, and roughly $32,000 in gold.
Neither Miah nor his wife disclosed their New York City holdings or any other offshore assets in the declaration. Rafiqul Islam, a former Bangladesh Election Commissioner, told OCCRP that Miah’s failure to disclose his New York properties could have consequences.
“If it is proven that he lied about his wealth abroad in the [election disclosure] affidavit, he can lose his seat in the parliament — questions will be raised,” Islam said.
Candidate disclosure forms are snapshots, showing assets at the time of filing, with little or no explanation of how or when the wealth was acquired.
But even if the couple had already accumulated substantial assets by 2014, the money for the New York purchases could not have legally been transferred from Bangladesh. Such transfers are approved by the central bank on a case-by-case basis, and are typically allowed only for supporting students studying abroad or for people who need to get medical treatment — not for real estate purchases.
