UK MPs think they may have been targets of ‘disinformation’ over Bangladesh inquiry

Rob Davies, The Guardian :

British MPs believe they may have been targeted by a “disinformation” campaign aimed at discrediting the man leading efforts to trace funds allegedly laundered from Bangladesh into the UK.

MPs raised the alarm after receiving emails about Ahsan Mansur, who was installed as the central bank governor of Bangladesh last year, after a student-led revolution swept away the autocratic government of Sheikh Hasina.

Mansur has been in London seeking help from the government and private companies to track down billions of dollars in assets allegedly stolen by allies of the Hasina regime, some of which he believes may have been used to buy UK property.

His visit has already been overshadowed by an escalating row involving Hasina’s niece, the former City minister Tulip Siddiq, who resigned from the role this year after Dhaka’s anti-corruption commission (ACC) filed a criminal case against her. She has denied all wrongdoing.

Now MPs fear that Britain’s efforts to assist Bangladesh could be further clouded by an apparent smear campaign against Mansur involving news articles by fake journalists.

MPs in the 47-strong all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on responsible tax and corruption received emails before a session on Monday with Mansur.

The sender, who claimed to be a journalist, sent links to a website called International Policy Digest, featuring articles about apparent displays of wealth by Mansur’s daughter and questioning why she was not being investigated.

Neither of the articles’ supposed authors appears to have any other profile as a journalist. The Guardian found that pictures of them were actually stock images.

Mansur and MPs on the committee raised concerns that the emails were part of a concerted disinformation campaign.

Mansur, a former IMF official, who previously lived and worked in Washington, said he believed that people under investigation for money laundering were trying to “diminish my reputation and target me in various ways”.

He added that his daughter was a US citizen who had little to do with Bangladesh.

One APPG member, 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.
Mansur said he had never made any comments about Siddiq.

However, he is a key figure in the transitional government led by Mohammad Yunus, whose ACC accused Siddiq, along with her family members, amid an investigation into a 2013 deal with Russia that allegedly overinflated the price of a nuclear power plant.

Huq said 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,” said APPG member Phil Brickell.

“I urge the relevant parliamentary authorities to investigate thoroughly – we must get to the bottom of who paid for this, and why, in order to understand how we can best protect ourselves.”

A spokesperson for Palatine Communications said: “Our client instructions are confidential. In sending the email in question, we acted on our own initiative.

“We have nothing to do with, and know nothing of, the authorship of this article, but nor did we ever claim it represented the gospel truth.

Like numerous articles from many media outlets, it raises legitimate concerns about the current situation in Bangladesh that we believe are worthy of MPs’ consideration.”

A spokesperson for International Policy Digest said the person who had actually written the articles had “wished to remain anonymous”, adding that they were confident that the content was “fairly accurate”.