DHAKA, Bangladesh: Bangladesh has launched a probe into the alleged $5 billion embezzlement connected to a nuclear power plant by ousted leader Sheikh Hasina and her family, the anti-corruption commission said on Monday.
Along with Hasina, the now-former prime minister who fled to India after being toppled by a revolution in August, those subject to the inquiry include her son, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, and niece, Tulip Siddiq and government minister.
The allegations were raised by a writ seeking an investigation filed in the high court by Hasina’s political opponent, Bobby Hajjaj, chairman of the Nationalist Democratic Movement party.
“We seek justice through our court”, Hajjaj told AFP on Monday.
Key allegations are connected to the funding of the $12.65 billion Rooppur nuclear plant, the South Asian country’s first.
A statement Monday from the commission said it had launched an inquiry into allegations that Hasina and family members had “embezzled $5 billion” from the Rooppur plant via “various offshore bank accounts”.
It said its investigations were examining “questionable procurement practices related to the overpriced construction” of the plant.
“The claims of kickbacks, mismanagement, money laundering, and potential abuse of power raise significant concerns about the integrity of the project and the use of public funds”, the commission said.
Graft allegations also include theft from a government building scheme for the homeless.
In a court writ submitted to the High Court Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, Ms Siddiq is named alongside her aunt, Hasina, Sky News reported.
The documents cite an online news report from August and suggest Ms Siddiq received embezzled funds that came from the artificial inflation of construction costs of the power plant.
It’s alleged that $5bn (£3.9bn) was siphoned off from the project’s budget.
Hasina, 77, fled by helicopter on August 5 into exile in India, infuriating many Bangladeshis determined that she face trial for alleged “mass murder”.
It was not possible to contact Hasina to make a comment.
Joy, who is understood to be based in the United States, was also unavailable for comment.
