News of Sheikh Hasina's embezzlement of 5 billion dollars is a rumor and a lie: Russian ambassador

Russian Ambassador to Dhaka Alexander Mantitsky has claimed that the news that former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina embezzled 5 billion dollars from the Rooppur nuclear power project is a complete rumor and lie.

Mantitski claimed this in response to a question while talking to reporters after a meeting with Finance Advisor Saleh Uddin Ahmed in the Economic Relations Department on Sunday (August 25).

The Russian ambassador said, 5 billion dollars is a big sum of money. Where project work is still going on, there is no opportunity to grab so much money. No one is crazy to pay so much. It is a complete rumor and false allegation.

Alexander Mantitsky also said that the plot of this rumor was made before the parliamentary elections in Bangladesh last January.

Regarding the meeting with the financial adviser, the Russian ambassador said that he had talked with the new interim government. In the future, Russia will support Bangladesh in all kinds of financial support and development.

Incidentally, last week the US website Global Defense Corp reported that Bangladesh's ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had embezzled more than $5 billion from the Rooppur nuclear power plant; Which was later broadcasted in various media of the country. According to the report, Rosatrom, the project implementation company, gave Sheikh Hasina the opportunity to embezzle this huge sum of money through a Malaysian bank. And it was mediated by his niece Tulip Siddique.

The report of the US portal also said that Tulip, Sheikh Rehana and some family members received 30 percent of the money smuggled in exchange for this mediation. In 2013, Tulip Siddique accompanied Sheikh Hasina during her meeting with Russian President Putin. According to Global Defense Corp, he also mediated the Dhaka-Moscow billion dollar arms deal at that time.

The report also said that Tulip Siddique, her mother Sheikh Rehana and uncle the then Prime Minister's Defense Advisor Tariq Ahmed Siddique, started a fake company named 'Prachhaya Limited' in 2009. They also have a company called Jumana Investments in the United States. Global Defense Corp alleged that Sheikh Hasina used to launder money to offshore accounts of various countries through this company.

The largest and most expensive project in the country is Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant. It is expected to meet 20 percent of electricity demand after full implementation. The cost of construction of the power plant with the help of Russia is estimated at 1 thousand 265 million dollars. The US online portal also claimed that this cost was much higher than necessary.