Minister Tulip Siddiq caught up in Bangladesh court anti-corruption probe

19 December 2024, 13:33 | Updated: 19 December 2024, 15:47

Labour's anti-corruption minister has been named in court documents detailing claims her family embezzled billions of pounds from a nuclear power project in Bangladesh.

Economic secretary Tulip Siddiq - who holds responsibility for financial crime and illicit finance - is alleged to have helped co-ordinate meetings with the Russian government regarding the Rooppur nuclear power plant project.

In a court writ seen by Sky News, submitted to the High Court Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, Ms Siddiq is named alongside her aunt, the former prime minister of Bangladesh Shaikh Hasina.

The documents cite an online news report from August and suggest Ms Siddiq received embezzled funds that came from the artificial inflation of construction costs of the power plant - which was mainly funded by the Russian government.

It's alleged that $5bn (£3.9bn) was siphoned off from the project's budget "in collusion with Russian officials".

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Ms Siddiq has been approached for a response.

The Labour Party and the government declined to comment.

It's understood that the minister has not been approached by Bangladeshi authorities in relation to the allegations.

A party source suggested the accusations originated from a "spurious American aerospace website".

Downing Street said Sir Keir Starmer had confidence in Ms Siddiq.

The legal claim has been made by Bobby Hajjaj, a political opponent of Hasina.

Hasina fled Bangladesh in August and resigned as prime minister after a total of twenty years in power.

Her departure followed weeks of deadly protests in the country and the new government has accused Hasina of multiple crimes while in office.

Ms Siddiq was photographed with Hasina in 2013 at a signing ceremony in the Kremlin alongside the Russian President Vladimir Putin.

She was a councillor in the London Borough of Camden at the time.

The Associated Press quoted Russian news agencies reporting that Moscow planned to lend Bangladesh a total of $1.5bn (£1.2bn) to finance the building of nuclear power stations and to buy Russian arms.

The PM's official spokesperson said Ms Siddiq had "denied any involvement in the claims" of embezzlement and continued to maintain her responsibility as a minister overseeing UK anti-corruption efforts.

Pressed about whether there was any conflict of interest in Ms Siddiq's involvement in a 2013 Bangladeshi deal with Russia over a nuclear power plant and her ministerial role, the spokesman said: "I can't speak to events that happened prior to a minister's time in government."

Sky News has approached the Bangladeshi Awami League Party - which Sheikh Hasina continues to lead - for comment.

A spokesperson for the party has been quoted saying the embezzlement claims are "fabricated".

(c) Sky News 2024: Minister Tulip Siddiq caught up in Bangladesh court anti-corruption probe