Chowdhury Nafeez Sarafat

Sarafat is from Gopalganj District.[1]

Sarafat is the founding chairman of Canadian University of Bangladesh.[6] The university awards Sarafat Chowdhury Merit Scholarship.[7]

Sarafat received his Doctorate in Business Administration from Commonwealth University-London on 15 December 2016.[8] The online university is not credited and the degree not recognized.[9][10] In January 2018, Sarafat was appointed chairman of Farmers Bank Limited, later renamed to Padma Bank, after its chairman Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir resigned over allegations of embezzling from the bank.[11]

In 2021, Sarafat and Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir accused each other of being corrupt.[12] Alamgir, who is a shareholder of Padma Bank,[13] asked Bangladesh Bank to investigate a loan of a billion taka to Strategic Equity Management allegedly owned by Sarafat.[12] In October 2021, Benoit Prefontaine, Canadian High Commissioner to Bangladesh, laid the foundation stone for the permanent campus of Canadian University of Bangladesh in Purbachal in a ceremony presided by Sarafat.[14] The plot, initially earmarked for a school, for the university had been allocated in violation of government rules by RAJUK.[15] Mohammad A. Arafat is chief adviser to the board of trustees.[15][16]

In 2022, Sarafat became a director of the National Tea Company Limited.[17] He is a member of the executive committee of Bangladesh Association of Banks.[18] He is a major shareholder of RACE Asset Management.[1] He is the Managing Director of Unique Meghnaghat Power Limited, a subsidiary of Unique group.[19][20] Ahmed Kabir Kishore was arrested under Digital Security Act for drawing cartoons critical of the government including one where he portrayed Sarafat as a bank embezzler.[21] He is the Head of Consumer Banking of ICB Islamic Bank Limited.[22]

Sarafat owns RACE Portfolio and Issue Management which was one of the issue manager in the aborted attempt to list Best Holdings Limited whose permission was denied by Bangladesh Bank.[23] Another issue manager, the government owned ICB Capital Management, denied any involvement with the company.[24] He is a director of Unique Hotel and Resorts Limited, which owns Westin Dhaka.[25] He and his wife are directors of Race Financial Management Inc. and Can-Ban Chambers House, based in Canada.[26][27]

Sarafat is married to Anjuman Ara Shahid.[28] She served as the chairman of Strategic Finance and Investment Limited and later director of Southeast Bank.[28][29] She is the Vice-Chairman of Canadian University of Bangladesh.[28] She owns shares of Padma Bank.[28] Their request to make their son, Chowdhury Rahib Sarafat, a director of Southeast Bank was denied by Bangladesh Bank as he was under 20.[28]