City minister Tulip Siddiq named in second Bangladesh corruption probe

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UK Cities Minister Tulip Siddique has been named in a second investigation by Bangladeshi authorities as she fights calls from charities to resign over her anti-corruption brief.

The Bangladesh Anti-Corruption Commission alleged that Siddiq tried to pressure Siddique’s mother and two siblings to allot land in Dhaka’s diplomatic zone to his aunt, the country’s former leader Sheikh Hasina.

Investigators alleged that Sheikh Hasina, while in office, used senior officials of Dhaka’s development authority Rajuk to allocate nearly an acre of land to herself and her two children in the capital’s Purbachal New Town project.

“When he became conscious. . . While serving as a member of the British Parliament, Mrs. Tulip Siddique is alleged to have used her special influence and authority to pressure and influence her aunt, Ms. Sheikh Hasina, to arrange a similar allocation in the same scheme for her mother, Mrs. Rehana Siddique. , his sister Ms. Azmina Siddique and his brother Mr. Radwan Mujib Siddique,” ​​the ACC said in a report released on Monday highlighting the allegations. Reports alleged that Sheikh Rehana was allotted a plot in 2022.

The investigation is a separate one Previous investigation Siddiqui and other family members claim to have benefited from the Bangladesh government’s $12 billion deal with Russia for a nuclear power plant. All allegations of wrongdoing have been denied by the family.

Siddiqui has been a Labor MP since 2015 and a close ally of the UK Prime Minister Sir. Care Starmer. Last week, Siddiq referred himself to Sir Laurie Magnus, the government’s independent adviser on ministerial standards.

“Tulip has submitted a self-report to the Minister’s Independent Advisor on Standards to independently establish information on the matter,” a Siddiqui spokesman said on Tuesday. “He’s clear he’s done nothing wrong.”

Downing Street said on Tuesday that Magnus would report “soon”.

Sheikh Rehana – Sheikh Hasina’s only surviving sibling and a key political figure in the ousted administration – Radwan Mujeeb Siddique and Azmina Siddique could not immediately be reached for comment. Sheikh Hasina and her children Sajeeb Wazed and Saima Wazed could not be contacted immediately.

During Sheikh Hasina’s tenure, Dr Crashed last summer Following a student-led protest that was initially met with violent repression by security forces, hundreds of civilians were killed.

The former Bangladeshi leader denied last month that she had ordered security forces to use lethal force against protesters and claimed the allegations against her were “false propaganda”.

His son Sajib Wazed dismissed the nuclear power plant probe last month, telling Reuters that “it is not possible to steal billions from a $10 billion project.[the nuclear deal]. . . None of us have ever seen this kind of money.”

Siddiqui has faced calls from the UK’s opposition Conservative Party to resign from his Treasury post, while anti-corruption charities have said his current role is untenable.

The UK’s anti-corruption coalition – which includes groups such as Oxfam, Transparency International and Spotlight on Corruption – said in a statement on Monday that Siddique should hand over the fight against economic crime, money laundering and illicit finance to another government minister.

Siddiq currently holds a “serious conflict of interest” due to his direct family ties to a ousted government that could be investigated by UK authorities, the coalition said.

“The UK has a historic responsibility to support Bangladesh’s new interim government, ensure a democratic transition and recover stolen assets, not least because some of these assets may be hiding in the UK,” the coalition added.

Starmer’s spokesman said on Monday that the prime minister retained “full confidence” in Siddiqui.