Ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina and her family members have allegedly made billions from the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant project.
Russia is providing 90 percent of the $12.65 billion project’s funds and constructing 2,400MW plant. It will also operate the plant, supply the fuel and take back the used uranium, according to the agreement. The plant will have a life cycle of 60 years and the possibility of extending operations by 20 more years.
A report by the Global Defence Corp said the nuclear reactors Bangladesh is getting for the overpriced nuclear plant are Soviet-era.
It claims Russia helped Hasina siphon off $5 billion through various Malaysian banks. Hasina’s niece and incumbent UK City Minister Tulip Siddiq allegedly mediated a billion-dollar arms deal between Bangladesh and Russia and played a key role in negotiating the nuclear power plant deal. She has allegedly received regular ‘honorarium’ from Hasina since 2009.
The Mail Online reported that Tulip had concealed her meeting in the Kremlin and her “extraordinary links to Putin and Sheikh Hasina”. The meeting took place just six months before the election. In 2009, Tulip, her mother Sheikh Rehana and uncle, the then Prime Minister's Defence Adviser Tariq Ahmed Siddique, launched a fake company called 'Prachhaya Limited'. They also have a company called Jumana Investments in the United States.
Global Defence Corp says that Hasina used to launder money into offshore accounts in various countries through this company. Their company has been associated with a cheating fund company called Destiny Group and has smuggled about 900 million dollars to various countries, including the United Kingdom. In exchange for mediating the power plant deal, Tulip, her mother Sheikh Rehana and some members of their family got 30 percent ‘kickbacks’ from Russia, the report says.
