Tulip Siddiq, a Labour minister of the UK and a niece of former prime minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina, has been interviewed by Cabinet Office officials over allegations of embezzlement by her family.
She is being investigated over claims that she and four family members embezzled £4 billion through a nuclear power plant deal in Bangladesh.
On Sunday, it emerged that the Cabinet Office propriety and ethics team questioned Ms Siddiq over the allegations. It followed the disclosure that she could be questioned by anti-corruption officials from Bangladesh.
Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) launched its investigation into Ms Siddiq, 42, last week, along with her mother, Sheikh Rehana Siddiq, 69, and aunt, Sheikh Hasina Wazed, 77, Bangladesh’s former prime minister, who was ousted after 15 years in the post.
The ACC was ordered to investigate by Bangladesh’s high court, which heard claims that the minister and family members siphoned £4 billion from the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant project through fake companies and Malaysian bank accounts into the UK and US.
Sir Keir Starmer has stood by Ms Siddiq, who denies the claims and said no authority has contacted her so far about the allegations. Labour party officials described the claims as “spurious” and made for political reasons by opponents of Ms Wazed.
The Mail on Sunday reported that five investigators were gathering “documentary evidence” relating to Ms Siddiq and others, and were likely to write to them within weeks for their responses.
The paper said the ACC would send any letter to Ms Siddiq through the British High Commission in, Dhaka, the Bangladeshi capital. Anonymous officials told the paper that once they received responses, investigators would assess whether to issue First Information Reports.
These documents would make Ms Siddiq a potential suspect, and give Bangladeshi police the power to arrest her. An ACC official said: “The investigation is at the inquiry stage. Once the inquiry is over, we’ll send letters to everyone. She [Siddiq] will be called to make a response.”
Akhtar Hussain, the director general (prevention) of the ACC, said the letters would give Ms Siddiq and her family members “the chance to defend themselves.”
If Ms Siddiq – whose roles include stamping out fraud in Britain’s financial sector – does not co-operate, then she will undermine recent commitments the Government has given to the Bangladeshi authorities to help them recover billions stolen by members of Ms Hasina’s government.
In October, National Crime Agency (NCA) investigators visited Bangladesh to “support” its anti-corruption probes.
A Tory MP has written to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner asking them to launch a probe into Ms Siddiq over the allegations.
Labour said: “Tulip has not been contacted by anyone on the matter and totally refutes the claims.”
Source: The Telegraph
BDST: 1138 HRS, DEC 23, 2024
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