Former Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal, popularly known as Lotus Kamal, and his daughter Nafisa Kamal, have allegedly siphoned off around Tk 250 billion and built a vast empire in Dubai, according to various sources.
Investigations by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) have revealed that Kamal, once a controversial businessman, along with his family members, owns significant assets in Dubai’s real estate sector, with off-plan properties and hidden businesses.
The European Union Tax Observatory (EUTax) revealed in May 2023 that 532 Bangladeshis own properties in Dubai, including members of Kamal’s family. The total value of these properties owned by Bangladeshis is reportedly around USD 283 million, rising to USD 374 million when including off-plan properties.
Reports showed that Kamal and his family exploited the Bangladeshi labor market, embezzling Tk 200 billion by overcharging migrant workers sent to Malaysia. While the government set the official cost of migration to Malaysia at Tk 79,000 per worker, the Kamal family-led syndicate collected Tk 544,000 per worker. Thousands of workers were left stranded without jobs or returned home empty-handed.
Mustafa Kamal, a Member of Parliament for 16 years representing Comilla-10, served as the country's finance minister and is accused of leading Bangladesh’s economy into disarray. Under his leadership, bad loans in the banking sector increased significantly, and inflation reached an 11-year high.
Kamal is alleged to have gained Tk 50 billion from his participation in a stock market manipulation scandal in 2010. Furthermore, it has been reported that his family has been transferring substantial amounts of money to Dubai over the years. A syndicate, under Kamal's leadership along with his associates, executed extensive financial misconduct across multiple sectors, which facilitated their ability to maintain an extravagant lifestyle overseas.
The Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) has frozen the bank accounts of Kamal, his wife Kashmiri Kamal, and his daughter Nafisa Kamal, suspending financial transactions linked to their businesses. Kamal and his daughter fled Bangladesh in July 2024, reportedly taking vast sums of cash with them. Despite allegations of extensive embezzlement, Kamal has faced no significant legal consequences under the current government.
The Anti-Corruption Commission continues to investigate Kamal’s Dubai assets, while local residents of his parliamentary constituency accuse him of ruling through a network of corruption and favoritism over the past 15 years.
