Bangladesh's hunt for over a billion dollars siphoned offshore by the Sikder family, allies of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, has just hit a massive paywall.
The foreign recovery firm claiming to have tracked the bulk of the fortune is demanding a massive 125 million dollar cut, inclusive of an advance fee to be paid before starting the legal process.
UK-based international asset recovery agent R-One Consortium has offered to recover 500 million dollars initially within months, taking a 25% cut.
R-One said it has traced between 1 billion dollars and 1.25 billion dollars linked to the influential business family. The remainder of the sum will take up five years to recover, the firm has said.
The proposal, which dominated a special meeting on Sunday between Bangladesh Bank Governor Md Mostaqur Rahman and chairmen of the 11 state-owned and private banks, has alarmed the bankers, several participants told Daily Waadaa.
They fear the consortium could collect a substantial fee without ultimately recovering the full amount.
Bangladesh Bank spokesperson and Executive Director Arief Hossain Khan confirmed that Sunday's meeting focused on the consortium's roadmap and the allocation of recovery costs among the banks.
He said the lenders had been asked to submit their views promptly, including any alternative proposals.
The central bank wants an agreement signed by the end of October, but bank chairmen have resisted the advance payments and fees, insisting that payments should be tied to actual recoveries.
R-One has committed to recovering the first 500 million dollars, but banks have baulked at the fees under the proposed structure.
An advance will be taken and deducted from the 125 million dollar fee. R-One will then recover the money it is owed before making payments to the banks. So, if 100 million dollars is recovered first, R-One will keep its share and then disburse whatever remains, and so on until its total fee is cleared.
Agrani Bank Chairman Syed Abu Naser Bukhtear Ahmed backed the recovery initiative but rejected any payment before results.
"The initiative is good and I find the roadmap reasonable. They can deduct their commission after recovering the money. But if they recover nothing, we cannot pay them anything," he told Waadaa.
Other bank chairmen argued that the agent should receive fees proportionate to the funds recovered, rather than take a lumpsum in one instalment while the remaining recoveries remain uncertain.
A Bangladesh Bank official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said R-One had sought initial funding to trace the assets and bring them within the relevant legal processes.
The central bank, acting as an intermediary, had placed the proposal before the lenders for a decision.
The recovery effort involves 11 banks identified in connection with funds transferred abroad by the Sikder Group.
Five of them — Exim Bank, First Security Islami Bank, Global Islami Bank, Union Bank and Social Islami Bank — have since been merged into Sammilito Islami Bank.
The remaining lenders are Janata Bank, Agrani Bank, National Bank, Premier Bank, IFIC Bank and AB Bank.
Officials told Sunday's meeting that the Sikder Group had taken as much as around 650 million dollars from the five Islamic banks.
Another 300 million dollars has been transferred overseas through IFIC Bank under the cover of international trade transactions.
However, the precise links between the funds taken from individual banks and the assets identified overseas have yet to be conclusively established.
Bangladesh Bank has designated National Bank, previously controlled by the Sikder family, as the lead institution coordinating the recovery effort, with the other lenders providing support.
The banks must also agree on how to share legal and recovery expenses and divide any funds eventually brought back to Bangladesh.
The overseas asset trail has already produced a court order involving investments held by members of the Sikder family in Thailand.
On September 30, Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Sabbir Fayez ordered a freeze on investments worth 353 million Thai baht, equivalent to approximately 133 crore taka, in seven Thai companies linked to Ron Haque Sikder, Rick Haque Sikder and former lawmaker Parveen Haque Sikder.
The three are children of the late Zainul Haque Sikder, founder of both Sikder Group and National Bank, which he also chaired.
The order followed findings submitted by the BFIU and the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
The family's business interests extend across banking, power, real estate, hospitality, healthcare and aviation. Its control over National Bank ended following the restructuring of the lender's board after the fall of the Awami League government during the August 2024 uprising.
Zainul Haque Sikder died in 2021. His wife, Monowara Sikder, who subsequently chaired National Bank, died in the United States in February 2026.
Ron Haque Sikder, who headed the family conglomerate, died in Dubai in May this year.
For the 11 lenders, the immediate challenge is turning the overseas asset trail into recoverable funds without exposing themselves to further financial losses.