Bangladesh requests Tulip Siddiq’s bank account details as part of corruption probe

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Bangladeshi authorities have requested information about the bank accounts of British Home Affairs Minister Tulip Siddique following allegations that members of her family embezzled money from the South Asian country.

Bangladesh’s financial intelligence unit on Tuesday ordered the country’s banks to provide transaction details for all accounts linked to the former ruling family, according to people familiar with the matter.

The directives to the banks mentioned Siddique, whose aunt Sheikh Hasina was ousted as Bangladesh’s prime minister last year after mass student-led protests, among others.

The minister was named last month by Bangladesh’s anti-corruption commission after a political rival of Sheikh Hasina accused her family, including Siddiqui, of abandoning a Russian-backed nuclear power project, claims they denied.

Tuesday’s move marked mounting pressure on the ousted leader and her family.In addition to Sheikh Hasina and Siddique, the orders also targeted five other members of their extended family, including Siddique’s mother, Sheikh Rehana, and Hasina’s son, Sajeeb Wazed, who lives in the US. names were also included in the ACC investigation.

Sheikh Rehana and Wazed could not immediately be reached for comment.

After taking power in August, Bangladesh’s caretaker government, led by Muhammad Yunus, appointed former IMF official Ahsan Mansour to head the country’s central bank and begin retrieving billions of dollars that the country’s new leaders claim were siphoned out of the banking system and taken abroad. .

Mansur in an interview given in October told the FT that an estimated Tk2tn ($16.7 billion) was taken out of the country after people linked to the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League (Awami League) political party forcibly took over leading banks using fake loans and import inflated invoices.

Siddiqui’s ally said he only had a UK bank account and no overseas accounts.

“No evidence has been presented for these claims. Tulip has not been contacted by anyone about the matter and completely denies the allegations,” Siddiqui’s spokesperson said in relation to the Russian-backed nuclear plant allegations.

The FT reported on Friday that Siddique became the owner of a two-bedroom flat near King’s Cross in 2004 without paying for it after had given it away by a developer with links to senior Awami League figures.

Siddique, who as a minister in Sir Keir Starmer’s Labor government is responsible for Britain’s fight against corruption, has lived in several properties linked to his aunt and the Awami League.

Siddique on Monday referred to himself to the UK government’s adviser on ministerial standards about his property and insisted he had done nothing wrong.

In a letter to Sir Laurie Magnus, he said: “In recent weeks, I have been the subject of media reports, most of them inaccurate, about my financial affairs and my family’s ties to the former government of Bangladesh.”

“For the avoidance of doubt,” he added, “I would like you to verify the facts on these matters yourself. I’ll obviously make sure you have all the information you need to do that.”