Petition seeks ACC inquiry into Hasina, family in Rooppur Power Plant 'scam'

A writ petition has been filed with the High Court, requesting an order directing the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to investigate allegations against former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy, and her niece Tulip Siddiq for allegedly embezzling $5 billion from the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant through Malaysian banks.

Nationalist Democratic Movement (NDM) Chairman Bobby Hajjaj filed the petition through lawyer Sahedul Azam on Tuesday (3 September).

The writ petition challenges the legality of the ACC's failure to investigate alleged corruption by Sheikh Hasina and her family members in the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant project. 

The ACC chairman and other relevant parties have been named as respondents in the writ.

Russian ambassador trashes report on Hasina, her family embezzling money from Rooppur deal

According to a report published by Global Defense Corp on 17 August, Bangladesh's ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy and niece Tulip Siddiq allegedly embezzled more than Tk500 crore from the Rooppur nuclear power plant.

Several local media outlets also published reports on the alleged embezzlement by the former prime minister on 19 August. 

The media reports were also attached to the writ petition.

Rosatom, the project's implementing agency, allegedly aided Sheikh Hasina in transferring the $5 billion from various Russian slush funds held in Malaysian banks to other accounts. Sajeeb Wazed Joy and Tulip Siddiq were said to have facilitated the transactions, said the Global Defense Corp report.

However, Russia's ambassador in Dhaka recently dismissed these allegations against Sheikh Hasina as baseless.