Tulip Siddiq questioned over multibillion-pound embezzlement allegations
Share:
Treasury minister denies claims by Bangladesh that she helped broker corrupt deal with Russia to build nuclear plant. The Treasury minister Tulip Siddiq has been questioned by the Cabinet Office’s propriety and ethics team after Bangladesh’s anti-corruption commission accused her and family members of embezzling billions for a nuclear power plant.
The Labour MP, who denies allegations that she helped broker a deal with Russia to build the energy project, reportedly told a government official that she was the victim of a “political hit job”. Whitehall sources confirmed reports that Siddiq, who is responsible for tackling corruption in Britain’s markets, had a discussion with the ethics team last week, but said it was as part of a factchecking process after the allegations, rather than a formal interview.
They indicated that it did not mean there was an investigation into the City minister, and that the prime minister’s ethics adviser – who has the power to launch an inquiry independently – had decided not to do so. This could change if new evidence came to light.
Siddiq’s explanation about her involvement in the £10bn Rooppur power plant project, which took place in her office on Thursday, according to the Sunday Times, was “accepted at face value” by officials. The Treasury minister is the niece of Sheikh Hasina, the former prime minister of Bangladesh who ruled the country for 15 years before being toppled in a revolution in August.
Siddiq is alleged to have been involved in brokering the 2013 deal with Russia and was photographed with Vladimir Putin and her aunt at a signing ceremony. The Treasury minister has previously said she only posed for the Russian president after he asked her aunt: “Is your family here? I’d like a picture.”.
