Photo: Collected
The UK's City minister Tulip Siddiq resigned from the government following an ethics review into allegations around her use and receipt of properties linked to the ousted Bangladeshi regime.
In her resignation letter to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, she wrote that "continuing in my role as Economic Secretary to the Treasury is likely to be a distraction from the work of the government".
Posting a copy of the letter on X, formerly Twitter, she wrote, "An independent review has confirmed that I have not breached the Ministerial Code and there is no evidence to suggest I have acted improperly. Nonetheless, to avoid distraction for the Government, I have resigned as City Minister."
Addressing the British premier, Tulip wrote in her resignation letter, "As you know, having conducted an in-depth review of the matter at my request, Sir Laurie has confirmed that I have not breached the Ministerial Code. As he notes, there is no evidence to suggest that I have acted improperly in relation to the properties I have owned or lived in, nor to suggest that any of my assets "derive from anything other than legitimate means."
"My family connections are a matter of public record, and when I became a Minister I provided the full details of my relationships and private interests to the Government. After extensive consultation with officials, I was advised to state in my declaration of interests that my aunt is the former Prime Minister of Bangladesh and to recuse myself from matters relating to Bangladesh to avoid any perception of a conflict of interest. I want to assure you that I acted and have continued to act with full transparency and on the advice of officials on these matters," she added.
"However, it is clear that continuing in my role as Economic Secretary to the Treasury is likely to be a distraction from the work of the Government. My loyalty is and always will be to this Labour Government and the programme of national renewal and transformation it has embarked upon. I have therefore decided to resign from my Ministerial position."
Tulip whose portfolio in government included areas such as financial services policy, banking, fintech, capital markets and combating financial corruption had come under pressure to quit after accusations that she'd benefited from properties that may have been acquired with funds embezzled by the regime of Sheikh Hasina, her aunt, reports Bloomberg.
Tulip referred herself to the government's independent adviser on ministerial interests to review the matter, and stepped down after the adviser's verdict was published, wrote the news outlet.
She has been replaced in her ministerial role by Emma Reynolds, who until May last year was chief lobbyist for TheCityUK, a trade group representing banks in London's financial center.
Laurie Magnus, the adviser on ministerial interests, said that Siddiq hadn't breached Britain's ministerial code, but found that it was "regrettable" that Siddiq was "not more alert to the potential reputational risks both to her and the government arising from her close family's association with Bangladesh." He advised Starmer he would "want to consider her ongoing responsibilities in the light of this."
Sued by ACC over Purbachal plots
Tulip, along with her aunt Sheikh Hasina, has been named in three cases filed against her mother Sheikh Rehana, brother Radwan Mujib Siddiq Bobby, and sister Azmina Siddiq by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) for allegedly acquiring government plots in the Purbachal New Town Project from Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) by abusing power.
This is the first time Tulip has been named in a legal case in Bangladesh. The lawsuits came at a time when she is embroiled in controversy and intense media spotlight in the UK for her alleged connections to properties linked to allies of her aunt deposed prime minister Hasina.
Officials of Rajuk and the Ministry of Housing and Public Works have also been accused in these cases, ACC Director General (Prevention) Akhtar Hossain said at a media briefing in Dhaka on 13 January.
Akhtar said they recommended filing the case against Tulip, a British MP and city minister, as the ACC's investigation team has found that she used her influence to illegally get plots allocated to her family members by manipulating her aunt Hasina's power.
In an interview with the Times on Thursday, Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus called on Tulip to apologise for using properties given to her and her family by the Awami League regime, and said her London properties should be investigated and returned if she is found to have benefited from "plain robbery".
Tulip's 'free' flat in London given by Hasina's aide
Tulip lived in a property given to her family by an ally of Hasina's deposed regime in Bangladesh, the Sunday Times reported earlier this month.
According to the report published on 4 January, Tulip used the flat on Finchley Road in Hampstead, north London, after it was given to her for free by her teenage sister, Azmina.
In another report published earlier this week, the Sunday Times wrote that the flat in London's Hampstead was bought by an offshore company named in the Panama Papers and connected to two Bangladeshi businessmen.
The 42-year-old British MP spent several years living in that flat, listing it as her address in 2012 and 2014.
Her husband, Christian Percy, listed the flat as his residence in 2016, the year after Siddiq became an MP.
Tulip's sister Azmina later sold it for £650,000.
According to The Sunday Times report, Pedrok Ventures, an offshore company registered in the British Virgin Islands, bought the flat for £243,000 in 2000.
Documents leaked as part of the Panama Papers and made available by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) demonstrate that Pedrok Ventures was funded through a six-figure loan, later written off, by a second offshore company: Harberton SA.
That entity had two shareholders: Nasim Ali and Masood Ali, two brothers from Bangladesh. They jointly own a company, Shamolima Limited, registered in Dhaka in 1983, which provides logistics and manpower to foreign oil companies operating in the country.
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