Tulip Siddiq resigned as Britain’s anti-corruption minister after Bangladesh’s anti-graft agency said she was being probed for – corruption.
Jesmin Papri and Mostafa Yousuf/Dhaka
Demands are rising in Bangladesh for Britain to further investigate London properties linked to a politician-niece of ousted Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, whose alleged corruption has already led to her relative resigning as a U.K. minister.
Tulip Siddiq, Hasina’s niece who was Britain anti-corruption minister in Keir Starmer’s Labour government, quit earlier this week amid a series of damning allegations against her and links to her aunt. Hasina is being investigated for massive alleged improprieties that are said to have benefited the ex-PM and her family.
Tulip repeatedly denied she was involved in any corruption or embezzlement, adding later that she resigned “to avoid distraction for the [British] government.”
Still, Iftekharuzzaman, executive director of Transparency International Bangladesh told Benar News that while a British ministerial watchdog body had cleared a couple of allegations that the media reported against Tulip, it was unable to obtain documentation for a key one related to the source of funds for two London properties she owned or co-owned.
“I think the whole matter should be subject to further investigation in the U.K.” said Iftekharuzzaman, who goes by one name.
Additionally, “more allegations have emerged that [Hasina’s] Awami League party’s U.K. unit was used in the campaign on behalf of the Labor Party” in 2015 during Tulip’s election campaign to become an MP, he said.
He was referring to reports by two British newspapers, the Financial Times and the Sunday Times, which said their investigations found that Tulip had stayed at, or her sister was gifted, two London apartments by supporters or members of the Awami League party. One of the flats was reportedly sold by her sister for £650,000 (U.S. $795,000).
These reports also alleged that Tulip had received support from the U.K. Awami League campaigners, and claimed that she would not have been elected without them.
The report by the Times noted that Tulip later said she didn’t know any details about the Awami League supporting her in the campaign.
Meanwhile on Dec. 19, the BBC quoted Syed Faruk, head of the U.K. branch of Awami League, as saying the allegations against Tulip were “fabricated.”
The head of Bangladesh’s interim government, Muhammad Yunus, was the first to say that anything purchased abroad using funds embezzled from Bangladesh must be returned to the South Asian nation.
In an interview with the Times last week, he also spoke about the allegations against Tulip, remarking about the “irony” that she, an anti-corruption minister, had been accused of graft.
“She becomes the minister for anti-corruption and defends herself [over the London properties],” Yunus told the Times.
According to the Times, Yunus said that a recent official report unearthed that the elite had siphoned out billions of U.S. dollars a year from Bangladesh and some of those funds were used to buy assets – like property.
That money belongs to Bangladesh, Yunus said, and when asked whether the Tulip-linked properties could fall under that category, the former Nobel laureate said it could indeed.
“If a U.K. parliament member is involved, definitely it’s a big issue.”
Meanwhile in Bangladesh, the Anti-Corruption Commission on Jan. 13 filed cases against Hasina, Tulip, her mother and two siblings for illegally managing to obtain parcels of land in an expensive suburb of Dhaka.
Akther Hossen, director general of Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), told BenarNews that they were at the preliminary stage of the probe.
“Now, the commission will form an investigative team to look into the anomalies thoroughly,” he said.
“Tulip exercised her clout while serving as an MP of the British Parliament to help her mother, brother and sister secure a housing plot in Purbachal, in the suburbs of Dhaka,” according to the inquiry report of the case, he said.
Three members of Tulip’s family were allocated d 31.25 decimals (13,612.5 square feet) of land each, as per the report, he said.
Separately, the ACC’s Special Enquiry and Investigation Unit was collecting evidence of “financial anomalies” involved in the contract process for a $12 billion nuclear plant that Russia is building for Bangladesh.
The ACC unit was acting on a writ filed in the Supreme Court by Bobby Hajja y .j, a lawyer and founder of the National Democratic Party, who was vocal against alleged corruption and human rights allegations under Sheikh Hasina’s leadership.
“Tulip Siddiq took part in every meeting held over the power plant contract,” he told BenarNews, adding that he’s certain she benefitted from the deal.
“Awami League, led by her aunt Sheikh Hasina, [also] used their ill-gotten resources to establish Tulip in British politics … It’s pivotal that Tulip faces the music for enabling the fascist [Hasina] regime and plundering the money of the Bangladeshi people, he said.
Bobby declined to disclose the sources of his information to BenarNews.
On Jan. 14, Chief Adviser Yunus’ press office said that the misappropriation of funds from the nuclear plant contract may be in the billions of dollars.
“The ongoing investigation into the $5 billion misappropriation linked to the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant underscores the scale of corruption under the previous government,” the statement said.
“The misuse of public resources in this and other projects has not only robbed the people of Bangladesh but also disrupted the country’s progress toward economic stability.”
In his interview with Britain’s Sunday Times, Yunus was more blunt about the alleged corruption under Hasina.
“The word ‘contaminated’ is a very soft word. [The country is] totally destroyed. It’s not contaminated,” he said.
“It’s about plain robbery.”
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