Britain’s FBI begins probe into disgraced ex-City minister Tulip Siddiq at centre of corruption row
Britain’s FBI is probing disgraced ex-City minister Tulip Siddiq after travelling to Dhaka for a secret summit with Bangladeshi anti-corruption investigators, the Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Detectives from the National Crime Agency were told at last month’s meeting that Bangladeshi authorities have amassed new evidence against the Labour MP as they investigate her over a controversial nuclear power plant deal.
The revelation raises the prospect of the British authorities looking into Ms Siddiq’s bank accounts, email records and even summoning her for interview.
The ex-Treasury minister and four family members – including her mother Sheikh Rehana Siddiq – are being probed over claims that they embezzled £3.9 billion from the Rooppur nuclear power plant, which was built by the Russian state-owned company Rosatom with a 90 per cent loan from the Kremlin.
Ms Siddiq was pictured alongside Vladimir Putin at the signing of the deal in 2013.
Official sources in Bangladesh said the NCA team offered to investigate Ms Siddiq in Britain to ‘bring about a prosecution’ by the Bangladeshi authorities through an international agreement.
Last night, sources in Bangladesh said the NCA may also be trying to gather evidence to bring a prosecution against the Hampstead and Highgate MP in the UK.
British nationals who are found to have received money abroad as bribes can be prosecuted in the UK under the Bribery Act 2010, and jailed for up to ten years. Bangladeshi officials, who spoke anonymously, said the NCA requested the meeting, set up by the British High Commission in Dhaka.
Labour MP Tulip Siddiq is now facing an investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA)
Ms Siddiq’s aunt, ousted Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina shaking hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2013
It is the second visit the agency has made to Bangladesh since Ms Siddiq’s aunt, Sheikh Hasina Wazed, 77, was ousted as prime minister in August after weeks of violent protests.
The former despot – who was described as a ‘role model’ by Ms Siddiq – has been accused of extrajudicial murders and human rights abuses while in office. Her regime is also accused of looting almost £13 billion out of the country annually during her rule.
During its first visit in October, the NCA offered assistance to the new Bangladeshi government in its efforts to recover the stolen billions that were suspected of being siphoned off by Hasina’s allies to countries like Britain.
But during the meeting, the NCA team of three asked specific questions about Ms Siddiq, who resigned last month, weeks after the Daily Mail exclusively revealed that she was being investigated over the power plant deal.
Days later, it emerged that Ms Siddiq received a two-bedroom flat in London’s King’s Cross area as a gift from a British property developer linked to her aunt.
The Mail on Sunday then revealed how she had lied to this newspaper in 2022 when we asked her if the flat was a gift.
An aerial view of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant in Bangladesh. The ex-Treasury minister and four family members are being probed over claims they embezzled £3.9billion from the facility
The NCA offered assistance to the new Bangladeshi government in its efforts to recover the stolen billions that were suspected of being siphoned off by Hasina’s allies to countries including Britain (file photo)
Miss Siddiq denied the claims, saying her parents bought the flat for her, and threatened to sue.
The Anti-Corruption Commission in Bangladesh is conducting at least two other criminal investigations into Ms Siddiq and her family. She denies the allegations against her.
Labour said: ‘Absolutely no evidence has been presented for these allegations. Tulip Siddiq has not been contacted on these matters and totally refutes the claims.’ A Labour source said that no one from the NCA or the Bangladeshi authorities has contacted her yet.
The NCA and Home Office declined to comment.
