Sajeeb Wazed, the son of Bangladesh’s ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, described as “completely bogus” and a “smear campaign” corruption allegations leveled against him regarding a $12.65 billion nuclear power deal, after the Bangladesh Anti-Corruption Commission announced inquiries into alleged corruption, embezzlement, and money laundering with regard to a project to build the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant. The project is financed by Russian state-owned company Rosatom.
The deal, inked in 2015, was for building two power plants each with the capacity of 1,200 megawatts. It has insinuated that the commission might investigate financial irregularities of around $5 billion down to Hasina herself, including her son Wazed, through offshore accounts, including her niece, Tulip Siddiq, a British treasury minister.
A spokesman for the British prime minister Keir Starmer confirmed that Siddiq denied all the allegations and still enjoyed his confidence to continue in the job. In August, Rosatom rejected the reports as “old, speculative and without foundation”, stressing again that it is committed to maximum transparency and adheres to strict anti-corruption policies.
Wazed, speaking from Washington on the issue, claimed it as part of a political witch hunt against his family. “These are completely fabricated accusations. My family and I have never been involved in any government projects, or even taken any money,” he said. He added, “It is just illogical to siphon billions off a $10-billion deal”, and explained that none of them possess any offshore account.
Since her ouster in August, Sheikh Hasina had been living in exile in India. After weeks of protests over her 15-year reign, a coalition of radicals comprising the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Jamaat-e-Islami besides the military, paved the way for her ouster. As tensions mounted she ran to India for protection when the military turned against her.
