Dhaka, Jul 7 (IANS): Bangladesh on Wednesday directed banks to freeze all accounts of S.K. Sur Chowdhury, former deputy governor of Bangladesh Bank (BB), the central bank of the country, and his wife, for suspected tax evasion.

The Central Intelligence Cell (CIC) of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) gave the directive to the banks on charges of tax evasion by the couple, officials said.

The move came after a close associate of P.K. Halder, a fugitive accused of money laundering, confessed to a Dhaka court that two top BB officials had aided them in the financial scams.

Earlier on March 15, the Supreme court had asked why the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) was not arresting Chowdhury and Md Shah Alam, an incumbent executive director of the central bank, even though their names surfaced in the scam.

The Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) has sought bank details of five executives of the central bank. These are Chowdhury, his wife Suparna, Shah Alam and his two wives Shaheen Akhter Shalley and Nasrin Begum. The Bangladesh Bank also withdrew Shah Alam from the responsibility of monitoring two departments for his alleged connection with Halder following the confessional statement of his associate.

Central Intelligence Cell (CIC) directed all banks to freeze withdrawal or transfer of money from all accounts maintained by these five accused.

The CIC also asked banks to submit a compliance report, stating the latest balance of the accounts. On February 23, the NBR has asked banks for detailed information on all accounts and transactions of the five accused.