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Tulip Siddique, the Chancellor of the Exchequer in charge of the City of London, has been named in a Bangladeshi court application accusing her family of embezzling $5 billion, with the country's Supreme Court ordering an investigation into the case.
Siddiq has refused to comment publicly on the allegations related to former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina – Siddiq's aunt – and the $12 billion nuclear power plant Bangladesh is building with Russian help.
A Downing Street spokesman said the Prime Minister was not concerned about the allegations and that “the Minister has denied any involvement in the allegations made.”
“So far it is just media speculation regarding the investigation. We did not see any official details, and the minister was not contacted by the relevant authorities.
They added: “There is a process for ministers to declare relevant interests, and the minister has done so where appropriate.”
Friend He is the Economic Secretary to the British Treasury and a close friend of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. She has been the Member of Parliament for Hampstead and Highgate since 2015.
The court application was filed by Bobby Hajjaj, a political opponent of Sheikh Hasina and head of the Bangladesh Nationalist Democratic Movement (BNDM), who alleged corruption in the Rooppur nuclear power plant project.
At an estimated cost About 12 billion dollarsIt is one of the largest ever infrastructure projects in the history of Bangladesh. Rosatom, Russia's state-owned nuclear giant, is building the power plant.
Hajjaj claimed in a suit before the Bangladesh Supreme Court in September that the price of the nuclear plant was inflated in the deal with Rosatom and that $5 billion was distributed to Sheikh Hasina and her family.
The Supreme Court earlier this week ordered the Anti-Corruption Commission to investigate allegations of Hajjaj’s embezzlement, according to court documents seen by the Financial Times. The ACCC did not respond to requests for comment Thursday.
“A significant portion of this money has ended up in the UK,” Hajjaj told the Financial Times, urging Starmer’s government to “vigorously investigate” the allegations regarding Siddiq. “It's better to put it on hold,” he said.
Labor officials said they were trying to verify the facts of the matter, and said the friend was not commenting at this time. She told her colleagues that the ACC had not contacted her.
“Anyone can complain to the ACC,” a Labor official said.
In January 2013, Al-Siddiq traveled to the Kremlin with Sheikh Hasina as part of a delegation that signed a nuclear and arms agreement between Bangladesh and Russia.
The event saw Vladimir Putin grant Bangladesh a $1 billion loan to buy weapons and $500 million to help build Rooppur, the first nuclear power plant in the South Asian country.
Sheikh Hasina, pictured standing alongside Siddiq and Putin, said the financial assistance for the nuclear power plant was a “shining example of our deeper engagement.”
Downing Street insisted Starmer had full confidence in Siddiq, but the allegations raised tension in senior government circles. “It's complicated,” said one senior government official.
Last month, Starmer quickly sacked Louise Hay, his transport secretary, after a previous mobile phone fraud conviction was revealed, fearing negative stories about the minister would emerge.
The friend represents a seat next to Starmer in north London, and the two MPs are close family friends.
Sheikh Hasina fled to India in early August after student-led protests ended her 15-year rule. Its political opponents and human rights groups accused the Awami League of rigging elections, carrying out extrajudicial killings and seizing state institutions.
Sheikh Hasina and her companions confront A Number of investigations By the interim government of Bangladesh due to allegations of plundering of state coffers.
In a speech earlier this month, Sheikh Hasina accused Bangladesh's interim leader and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus of being the “mastermind” of the violence and uprising that led to her ouster. Her son also denied allegations of corruption and authoritarian abuses.
The Awami League claims that Yunus has “weaponised” the judicial system and law enforcement agencies against them. It did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ACC investigation.
A spokesman for the interim government declined to comment.
