Tulip Siddiq attacks 'false' corruption allegations

Former Labour curate Tulip Siddiq has accused the Bangladeshi authorities of mounting a "targeted and baseless" run against her.

In a missive to Bangladesh's Anti Corruption Commission (ACC), the MP's lawyers accidental allegations of corruption are "false and vexatious" and person ne'er been formally enactment to her by investigators, contempt being briefed to the media.

Siddiq resigned arsenic economical caput to the Treasury, with work for tackling corruption successful the UK's fiscal markets, successful January.

The Hampstead and Highgate MP insisted astatine the clip she had done thing incorrect but that she did not privation to beryllium a "distraction" to the government.

In a missive accepting her resignation, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, a adjacent person of Siddiq who represents a neighbouring constituency successful North London, said the "door remains open" to her return.

Siddiq had referred herself to the PM's morals advisor Sir Laurie Magnus erstwhile the corruption allegations archetypal surfaced successful January.

Sir Laurie said successful his study that helium had "not identified grounds of improprieties".

But helium added it was "regrettable" that Siddiq had not been much alert to the "potential reputational risks" of the ties to her aunt Sheikh Hasina, the deposed premier curate of Bangladesh and person of Awami League party.

The ACC is examining claims Sheikh Hasina and her household embezzled up to £3.9bn from infrastructure spending successful Bangladesh.

The probe is based connected a bid of allegations made by Bobby Hajjaj, a governmental hostile of Hasina.

Court documents seen by the BBC amusement Hajjaj has accused Siddiq of helping to broker a woody with Russia successful 2013 that overinflated the terms of a caller atomic powerfulness works successful Bangladesh.

In its missive to the ACC, Siddiq's lawyers, Stephenson Harwood, repetition her assertion that she was not progressive successful the atomic works woody successful immoderate way, contempt being pictured astatine a signing ceremonial successful the Kremlin successful 2013, with Sheikh Hasina and Russian president Vladimir Putin.

"It is not uncommon for household members to beryllium invited to travel Heads of State connected authorities visits," the missive says, adding that she had nary cognition of immoderate alleged fiscal irregularities.

It says claims that a £700,000 level successful London King's Cross talented to Siddiq successful 2004 was "in immoderate mode the fruits of embezzlement" were "absurd" and "cannot beryllium true" due to the fact that it was 10 years earlier the atomic deal.

In his probe into the allegations, Sir Laurie Magnus said that "over an extended period, she was unaware of the origins of her ownership of her level successful Kings Cross, contempt having signed a Land Registry transportation signifier relating to the acquisition astatine the time".

She "remained nether the content that her parents had bought the spot for her", Sir Laurie added, but had to close the grounds erstwhile she became a authorities minister.

He describes this arsenic an "unfortunate misunderstanding" which meant the nationalist had been "inadvertently misled astir the individuality of the donor of this gift".

In their missive to the ACC, Siddiq's lawyers corroborate that the King's Cross level was fixed to her by Abdul Motalif, who is described arsenic "an Iman and a precise adjacent household friend, akin to Ms Siddiq's godfather".

The missive besides contains a elaborate rebuttal of allegations made by the ACC to the media that Siddiq was progressive successful the appropriation of onshore successful Dhaka.

It describes ACC briefings to the media arsenic an "unacceptable effort to interfere with UK politics".

"At nary constituent person immoderate allegations been enactment to her fairly, decently and transparently, oregon so astatine all, by the ACC oregon anyone other with due authorization connected behalf of the Bangladeshi government, " the missive says.

"We necessitate that you instantly halt manufacturing mendacious and vexatious allegations against Ms Siddiq and further media briefings and nationalist comments designed to harm her reputation."

The missive says the ACC indispensable enactment questions to Siddiq "promptly" and "in immoderate lawsuit by nary aboriginal than 25 March 2025" oregon " we shall presume that determination are nary morganatic questions to answer".

The ACC has responded to Siddiq's lawyers successful a missive to them claiming that she had "spent astir of her big beingness residing successful homes owned by cronies of the notoriously venal Awami League" and that this was grounds she had benefitted from the party's corruption.

The MP's "claims to person been unaware of the quality of the Hasina regime" strained credulity, the spokesperson added, and the ACC would beryllium successful interaction with her lawyers "in owed course".

The ACC's chairman, Mohammad Abdul Momen, told The Times: "All allegations raised against Ms Siddiq volition beryllium proven successful immoderate court, including the ones successful the United Kingdom."