Tulip Siddiq: Labour minister caught up in Bangladesh corruption probe | EUROtoday

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A Labour minister has been embroiled in a Bangladeshi corruption probe after the nation’s authorities accused her of serving to her aunt embezzle billions of kilos.

City minister Tulip Siddiq, has been accused of serving to Sheikh Hasina, the not too long ago ousted prime minister of Bangladesh, to siphon off £5.2bn meant for use constructing eight large-scale tasks together with a nuclear energy plant.

The Labour MP for Hampstead and Highgate has not commented on the allegations, however Labour figures have described them as “spurious”, whereas Syed Faruk, the UK general-secretary of Ms Hasina’s Awami League social gathering, mentioned the accusations have been “100 per cent politically motivated”.

Mr Faruk, a household buddy of Ms Siddiq, advised the Daily Mailwhich first reported the Bangladeshi probe: “They are attacking Tulip because she is the niece of our honourable prime minister, Sheikh Hasina.”

The paper reported that Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) launched a probe into Ms Siddiq, her UK-based mom Sheikh Rehana Siddiq, and her aunt Ms Hasina, who dominated the nation for greater than 15 years.

It reportedly got here after an order from the nation’s High Court, which is alleged to have heard claims Ms Siddiq could have helped dealer the £10bn nuclear energy plant deal.

The plant was constructed by Russian state-backed agency Rosatom, whereas the deal was signed within the Kremlin a decade in the past in a ceremony attended by Ms Siddiq, her aunt and Vladimir Putin.

Ms Hasina, Bangladesh’s longest-serving prime minister, is now in India after being ousted in August following weeks of violent anti-government protests.

The ACC can also be probing different members of Ms Siddiq’s household, together with her maternal cousin, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, who lives within the US, and her paternal uncle Tariq Siddiq, who’s believed to be hiding in Bangladesh, the Mail reported.

An official mentioned on Wednesday: “The commission is committed to ensuring transparency and accountability, irrespective of the stature of those involved.”

But the probe, if confirmed, may spark a row between the UK and Bangladeshi governments.

Critics mentioned the story raises questions on Ms Siddiq’s capability to maintain her job in authorities, as a part of which she is liable for stamping out corruption within the monetary sector.

Tory MP Joe Robertson mentioned: “It is obvious that there are critical questions that demand solutions – what’s the minister’s involvement? What precisely is the character of those allegations, and the way can she presumably proceed in submit while below such a critical investigation?”

The Treasury declined to remark. Labour and Ms Siddiq have been approached for remark.

Ms Siddiq beforehand brought about controversy when she grew to become the primary MP because the normal election to be investigated by parliament’s requirements watchdog.

The inquiry was thought to narrate to Ms Siddiq’s failure to register rental earnings from a property in London, for which she was cleared in August.