Bangladesh claims $16 billion siphoned every year during Sheikh Hasina's tenure: Report

The findings by interim leader Muhammad Yunus' caretaker government in Bangladesh claim that an average of $16 billion was allegedly embezzled from the country every year during former prime minister Sheikh Hasina's tenure.

"It will show us the economy we inherited after the July-August mass uprising," said Yunus as he received the report by Debapriya Bhattacharya, the chairman of the committee, he set up to find the status of Bangladesh's economy.

"Our blood curdles to know how they plundered the economy," Yunus said in a statement. 

"The sad part is they looted the economy openly. And most of us could not summon courage to confront it," he added.

The Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League regime was toppled in the middle of a mass uprising, which started from the Anti-Discrimination Students Movement's quota reform campaign.

After three days, Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus took the office of the interim government's head as the chief adviser.

The students-led protests soon turned into a nationwide uprising, because of which Hasina was compelled to flee the country in secrecy and seek refuge in neighbouring India.

Under the committee's scanner were large projects, focusing on seven that had individual expenditure outlays exceeding $836 million, according to a Bloomberg report. 

"The problem is deeper than what we have thought," Bhattacharya said, adding that the 400-page white paper will show "how crony capitalism gave birth to the oligarchs, who controlled the policy framing." 

Also read: Bangladesh freezes 17 bank accounts linked to ISKCON amid rising attacks on Hindus

Bangladesh will seek extradition of Sheikh Hasina from India, says Yunus

In November, Yunus, in a televised speech, said that the country will soon seek former prime minister Sheikh Hasina's extradition from India, where she has been living since her Awami League government was ousted in August 2024.

"We will ensure justice for every killing during the July-August revolution. Efforts to prosecute those responsible are progressing well, and we will demand Hasina’s return from India to hold her accountable," Yunus said.

The leader said that the interim government would conduct a trial of those responsible for the deaths of students during the Anti-Discrimination Students Movement, which ended Hasina's 15-year rule.

(With inputs from agencies)