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UK City Minister Tulip Siddiq is under increasing pressure to resign after being embroiled in a scandal involving the ousted Bangladesh government.
The minister, who is responsible for fighting corruption, lived in several properties linked to her aunt, former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikha Hasina and her Awami League party. They are accused of siphoning funds from the country’s banking system, although they deny this.
“It is high time that Tulip Siddiq explained the source of her wealth and whether any of the proceeds came from her aunt’s alleged corrupt dealings,” said shadow home secretary Chris Philp.
He called on Sir Keir Starmer to “remove her from the role of anti-corruption minister until these questions are answered. . . The Prime Minister’s continued failure to answer any questions, or take any action, shows that he lacks strength or integrity.”
While Starmer still stands by Siddiq, a senior Labor official told the FT that the party leadership was finding it “difficult to defend” her personal financial affairs and that her position was becoming untenable. “It becomes a millstone,” they said.
The FT revealed on Friday that Siddiq became the owner of a two-bedroom flat near King’s Cross in 2004 without paying for it. The property was bought three years earlier for £195,000 by Abdul Motalif, a developer with links to senior Awami League figures. A flat similar to this property, which Siddiq still owns, sold for £650,000 in August.
Over the weekend, the Sunday Times first reported that Siddiq was living in another property in Hampstead that Moin Ghani, now a prominent lawyer who represented the Awami League-led government of Bangladesh, had transferred to her sister. People familiar with Siddiq’s situation confirmed her living arrangement.
Ghani previously reported his address as a flat in King’s Cross. He did not respond to a request for comment.
She also rents a £2.1 million house in East Finchley owned by Abdul Karim, an executive member of the British wing of the Awami League. She moved into the property, outside her constituency, shortly after it was purchased in July 2022, according to land records.
An ally of Siddiq said she was paying “market rates” and that the landlord-tenant relationship between her and Karim had been duly reported to parliamentary authorities.
Sheikh Hasina was ousted as prime minister last year after student protests and a violent crackdown. Bangladesh’s interim government claims that senior officials of its regime siphoned funds from the banking system to acquire properties abroad. They denied the claims.
Although she maintains she has done nothing wrong, Siddiq has given conflicting accounts of how she came into possession of the property in King’s Cross. The Mail on Sunday reported that she first told her reporters that her parents had bought the flat.
“Tulipa’s previous understanding of how she acquired ownership of the property has changed,” said a person familiar with her position.
The person added that Siddiq’s parents actually provided the acquaintance with “financial support” and that the developer subsequently transferred the property they owned to Siddiq as an “act of gratitude”.
Siddiq did not pay any tax when she acquired the property as it was a gift and was therefore exempt from GST, tax on the purchase of the property, the person said.
On Sunday, a person familiar with the details clarified that the financial support given to Motalif by Siddiq’s parents had been repaid in full before the transfer of these assets. They said that she therefore did not owe any stamp duty and that she had received legal advice to that effect.
A senior UK official who works on UK anti-kleptocracy policy told the FT: “The challenge here is that ‘I got a gift from this guy as a thank you because my politically exposed family helped him’ is kind of a report. . . that that we spend our time telling the banks is not enough.”
