https://www.newagebd.net/post/politics/253499/300m-laundering-hasina-sajeeb-under-acc-scanner

The Anti-Corruption Commission on Sunday decided to conduct an inquiry into the allegation against former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy of laundering $300 million to the United States and the United Kingdom.

The commission made the decision at its meeting at the commission headquarters in Dhaka with its newly-appointed chairman Mohammad Abdul Momen in the chair, ACC director general Md Aktar Hossain told New Age.

According to the allegation, the name of Sajeeb Wazed Joy first came up as a money laundering suspect in the United States versus Rizvi Ahmed case in 2014.

Later, a probe conducted by a powerful US intelligence agency uncovered serious financial scams involving Sajeeb Wazed, it said.

It also noted that in particular, information emerged that money was being laundered from various bank accounts in Hong Kong and the Cayman Islands in his name to various bank accounts in Washington and New York in the United States and London in the United Kingdom through a local money exchange entity.

The US intelligence agency also confirmed the matter through their London representative and found evidence of serious financial irregularities and money laundering committed by Sajeeb Wazed, said the allegation.

It also mentioned that Linda Samuels, Senior Trial Attorney of the Department of Justice, contacted Special Agent La Prevot and found that $300 million was deposited from Bangladesh to various bank accounts in the United States.

The commission came up with the new inquiry against deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina and her son Sajeeb Wazed just four days after the commission on December 17 started an inquiry into Tk 80,000 crore corruption allegations against Hasina, Sajeeb Wazed, her younger sister Sheikh Rehana and Rehana’s daughter and British minister Tulip Siddiq.

The alleged corruption involving Tk 80,000 crore occurred in nine projects, including the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant and the Special Ashrayan Project during the Awami League government between 2009 and 2023, according to the allegation.

Amid a student-led mass uprising on August 5, prime minister Sheikh Hasina fled to India while her son Sajeeb Wazed, also her information and communication technology adviser, is staying abroad.

According to the White Paper on the State of the Bangladesh Economy published recently, Bangladesh lost $16 billion annually on average between 2009 and 2023 because of the illicit fund flow under the authoritarian AL regime.

The illicit financial outflows are more than double the combined value of net foreign aid and foreign direct investment, the white paper said.

After the fall of the autocratic rule of Sheikh Hasina, the Professor Muhammad Yunus-led interim government came to power on August 8 and announced that it would take steps to bring back the laundered money.

As a part of the initiative, the commission has been actively collaborating with international agencies, including the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, the World Bank, and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, to tackle money laundering.

On September 9, a delegation from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation held a meeting at the commission headquarters with the director general of the ACC’s money laundering and legal unit and other officials concerned.

Besides, on October 1, a three-member EU delegation, led by Michal Krejza, head of cooperation at the EU delegation to Bangladesh, met then ACC chairman Mohammad Moinuddin Abdullah and discussed the repatriation of laundered funds and technical assistance to strengthen the commission’s operational capabilities, said ACC officials.