UK senior Labour minister Tulip Siddiq, currently Economic Secretary to the Treasury, has been implicated in a corruption investigation related to the embezzlement of £3.9 billion (Tk 590 billion) from infrastructure projects in Bangladesh. Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) investigation alleges that Siddiq’s family was involved in inflating the cost of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant project by £1 billion through a 2013 deal brokered with Russia.
Siddiq, 42, who supervises anti-corruption work in the UK’s financial markets, has denied all the allegations. She is accused of arranging meetings between Bangladeshi officials and Russian representatives to secure an inflated project deal that allegedly sent excess funds into offshore accounts. Court documents suggest that around 30% of the excess funds were diverted to Siddiq and her family.
The ACC is also investigating Siddiq’s aunt, Sheikh Hasina, the former Prime Minister of Bangladesh, who was ousted in August after more than 20 years of rule. Hasina has been charged with several crimes, among them “crimes against humanity” committed during her tenure. Siddiq’s mother, Sheikh Rehana Siddiq, and several high-ranking members of Hasina’s administration are also accused, arrest warrants having been issued for 45 people, among them former Bangladeshi ministers.
Despite the ongoing inquiry, the ACC has yet to call Siddiq; meanwhile, she continues attending her ministry work. UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer confirmed that the representative was relieved of her responsibility as a minister to participate in making decisions on Bangladesh issues; besides this, he said he holds her completely and utterly.
Siddiq, a Member of Parliament for Hampstead and Highgate since 2015, says that she has nothing to do with the scandal. According to her supporters, which include Syed Faruk, leader of the UK branch of Hasina’s Awami League party, the allegations of corruption were politically motivated and invented.
