ACC investigating 'waste of money' behind Sheikh Hasina's foreign trips, degrees

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has decided to investigate whether former prime minister Sheikh Hasina's foreign trips and doctorate degrees from universities in different countries have cost the Bangladesh government billions.

ACC Director General Md Akhtar Hossain told the media of the decision on Thursday, reports bdnews24.com.

In the past six months, more than a hundred cases of murder, genocide, money laundering and corruption have been filed against the former premier, who fled to India in the face of a student-led mass movement on Aug 5. Most of her family lives abroad.

Now, the ACC has raised allegations that Hasina wasted state money on foreign trips and obtaining degrees from foreign universities.

ACC official Akhter said that the commission decided to investigate these issues after reviewing information from intelligence sources.

ACC documents state that when Hasina went on foreign trips, she would rent a Biman Bangladesh Airlines plane with government money. She would take a “large fleet of travel companions” with her, they say. During her 16 years in power, she attended nearly every UN General Assembly session as the head of government and would take a “huge entourage” to New York every time.

The ACC said that Sheikh Hasina went to New York in 2015 “with a group of 227 people” to attend the 70th General Assembly and the UN Special Summit on Sustainable Development. In 2014, this number was 178 for the 69th General Assembly and it was 134 in 2013.

ACC documents say that the ousted prime minister travelled from Bangladesh to various countries on Biman’s state-of-the-art aircraft, such as the Boeing 777 and 787 series. In the last five years, from 2019 to mid-2024, the state-owned airline operated 48 VVIP flights at a cost of Tk 2.5 billion. Hasina spent about Tk 2 billion on these trips.

On the afternoon of Sept 18, 2021, local time Hasina departed for New York on a Biman Bangladesh Airlines VVIP flight (BG-1902) from Helsinki's Vantaa International Airport.

“It has been reported from some sources related to the airline that this VVIP chartered flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines landed in Finland instead of flying directly from Dhaka to New York. An additional foreign currency equivalent of Tk 70 million was spent to cover all the passengers' expenses, including the two-day landing charge.”

The ACC document states that the government owed Biman about Tk 500 million by 2023.

The ACC alleges Hasina also collected “fake doctorates” from various universities.

It says, “Some of the notable fake doctorates collected through lobbyists using government money are from Tripura University in India, the Catholic University of Brussels in Belgium, and Visva-Bharati University in India.”

“It is known that almost all the medals and degrees she has collected have been obtained at great expense or in exchange for agreements that are contrary to national interests.”