Dhaka, Nov. 29 -- The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has lodged a money laundering case against former Padma Bank chairman Chowdhury Nafeez Sarafat and three associates over allegations of siphoning Tk1,613 crore.

According to CID's initial findings, Sarafat and his associate Dr Hasan Taher Imam obtained a licence in 2008 to run Race Management PLC, an asset management company. Between 2008 and 2013, the firm took charge of managing 10 closed-end mutual funds now expanded to 13and allegedly exploited these funds for illegal personal gain, the CID said in a press release issued on Friday.

Investigators reported that Sarafat, his wife Anjuman Ara Shahid, and Dr Hasan Taher Imam invested mutual fund money to buy shares of the then...