Dhaka: Bangladesh money laundering investigators have ordered the country\u2019s big banks to hand over details of transactions relating to British anti-corruption minister Tulip Siddiq in an ongoing graft probe, officers told AFP.
\nSiddiq is the niece of former Bangladeshi premier Sheikh Hasina, who fled abroad last August after a student-led uprising against her iron-fisted tenure.
\nLast month the national anti-corruption commission launched a probe into the alleged embezzlement by Hasina\u2019s family of $5 billion connected to a Russian-funded nuclear power plant.
\nTwo officials from the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU), speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, confirmed that Bangladeshi banks had been instructed to furnish any financial records relating to Siddiq.
\nA BFIU document issued Tuesday and seen by AFP showed that banks had also been told to provide transaction records for Hasina, her son and daughter, Siddiq\u2019s two siblings and her mother Sheikh Rehana.
\nThe kickback allegations relate to the $12.65 billion Rooppur nuclear plant, which was bankrolled by Moscow with a 90 percent loan.
\n\u201cThe 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,\u201d the anti-corruption commission said last month when announcing the probe.
\nThe order came a day after British Prime Minister Keir Starmer revealed that Siddiq had referred herself to his standards adviser.
\nSiddiq insists she has done nothing wrong and a spokesman for Starmer said he retains \u201cfull confidence\u201d in her.
\nThe referral came after the Sunday Times and Financial Times newspapers reported that she had lived in properties linked to her aunt Sheikh Hasina\u2019s administration.
\n\u201cIn recent weeks I have been the subject of media reporting, much of it inaccurate, about my financial affairs and my family\u2019s links to the former government of Bangladesh,\u201d Siddiq wrote in her letter to ministerial standards watchdog Laurie Magnus.
\n\u201cI am clear that I have done nothing wrong,\u201d she added. \u201cHowever, for the avoidance of doubt, I would like you to independently establish the facts about these matters.\u201d
\nHer aunt Hasina, 77, fled Bangladesh by helicopter on August 5, shortly before protesters stormed her palace in the capital Dhaka.
\nShe remains in neighboring India but the interim government that replaced her has demanded her extradition to face trial for the police killing of protesters during the revolt against her regime.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dhaka: Bangladesh money laundering investigators have ordered the country\u2019s big banks to hand over details of transactions relating to British anti-corruption minister Tulip Siddiq in an ongoing graft probe, officers told AFP. Siddiq is the niece of former Bangladeshi premier Sheikh Hasina, who fled abroad last August after a student-led uprising against her iron-fisted tenure. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":454183,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-454173","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n