Disinformation targets Mansur’s asset recovery missionBritish MPs alarmed by smear campaign against BB governor

British parliamentarians have raised alarms over a suspected disinformation campaign targeting Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur, who is spearheading efforts to trace billions of dollars allegedly laundered into the UK during the Awami League regime.

The concerns follow fraudulent emails sent to MPs ahead of a key parliamentary session with Mansur, who was appointed after a student-led uprising ousted Hasina’s government last year.

According to sources, members of the UK’s All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Responsible Tax and Corruption received emails from individuals posing as journalists, linking to articles on the website International Policy Digest.

The articles falsely questioned the wealth of Mansur’s daughter, using bylines with stock images of non-existent reporters.

Mansur, a former IMF official now leading Bangladesh’s transitional government under Prof Muhammad Yunus, dismissed the claims as a bid to “diminish my reputation” by actors under investigation for money laundering.

Tulip Siddiq controversy

The smear campaign coincides with Mansur’s push for UK cooperation in probing assets tied to a 2013 Russia-Bangladesh nuclear deal, which implicated Hasina’s niece, former UK city minister Tulip Siddiq.

Tulip, who resigned earlier this year after Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed a case against her, denies wrongdoing.

An email from the UK-based PR firm Palatine Communications urged MPs to scrutinize Mansur’s family if he “impugns Tulip’s integrity” — a claim Mansur denies.

One APPG member, Labour MP Rupa Huq, received a separate email from a UK public relations firm called Palatine Communications, also linking to International Policy Digest.

The email said that if Mansur was prepared to “impugn the integrity of Tulip Siddiq” then he and his family should also face scrutiny.

Rupa said that it was “highly unusual” to receive such an email and compared it to demonstrations that have targeted her speaking about Bangladesh in parliament.

She said both were “designed to intimidate and interfere with parliament and MPs’ normal work”.

Members of the APPG are understood to have referred the emails to parliamentary cyber security advisers, as well as to the parliamentary foreign affairs committee, which is investigating disinformation.

“If it is the case that this communication is an attempt to mislead UK politicians when it comes to a very serious corruption scandal, then I think we should be very concerned,” APPG member Phil Brickell said.

Brickell urged authorities to investigate the source, stressing: “We must protect against attempts to mislead on grave corruption issues.”

Palatine Communications claimed it acted independently, while International Policy Digest defended the articles’ accuracy, citing the author’s anonymity.

Source: The Guardian