Dhaka: Bangladesh’s anti-corruption commission has filed cases against ousted leader Sheikh Hasina and her family, including a British government minister and a senior United Nations official, its chief said on Monday.
Hasina, 77, fled to neighboring India after a revolution in August 2024, where she rejected extradition requests to Bangladesh to face other charges, including mass murder.
The cases relate to alleged large-scale land grabs on lucrative plots in a suburb of the densely populated capital Dhaka.
“Sheikh Hasina along with some officials allocated plots for herself and her family members,” Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Director General Akhtar Hussain told reporters.
Hasina’s niece, British anti-corruption minister Tulip Siddique, is among those named in the case, Hussain said. He has insisted that he has done nothing wrong.
Hasina’s daughter Saima Wazd, head of Southeast Asia of the World Health Organization, is also included in the list. There was no immediate response from Wazeed.
“The ACC investigation team has obtained the necessary documents and enough evidence to register cases,” Hussain said. AFP.
“These will include relevant details, such as acquisition of the property while further investigation is conducted.”
Haseena’s son is also named Sajib Wazeed Joy, as well as Haseena’s sister Sheikh Rehana, Siddique’s mother.
Siddiq this month made himself a standard adviser to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
The reference comes after British newspapers The Sunday Times and Financial Times reported that she lived in properties linked to Hasina’s administration.
Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission also launched an investigation in December into alleged embezzlement of $5 billion by Hasina’s family linked to a Russian-funded nuclear power plant.
The kickback allegations relate to the $12.65 billion Rooppur nuclear plant, which was bankrolled by Moscow with 90 percent debt.