Bangladesh

Rooppur power plant: Tulip quizzed in UK over graft allegations

UK Treasury's Economic Secretary Tulip Siddiq has been questioned by a Cabinet Office team on graft accusations brought by Bangladesh authorities.

Tulip, niece of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, agreed to attend a meeting with a representative of the propriety and ethics team (PET), reports the Sunday Times.

On Thursday, she welcomed the official to her office and gave her response to allegations that she helped her family embezzle up to £3.9 billion from the Russia-backed Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant Project.

Her explanation about the Russia deal was accepted at face value and the fact that her holding the meeting does not indicate that there is any kind of civil service investigation into her, the Sunday Times said.

According to the report, the Cabinet Office said: "As previously stated, the minister has denied any involvement."

Tulip, who represents the constituency of Hampstead & Highgate, was unavailable for comments.

As economic secretary to the Treasury, she is responsible for tackling corruption in the UK's financial markets.

Daughter of Sheikh Rehana, Tulip is accused of helping her aunt Hasina broker a corrupt deal with Russia for the £10 billion Rooppur plant in 2013.

The same year she posed for a picture with Russian President Vladimir Putin and her aunt at a signing ceremony for the deal, the report said.

Citing sources close to her, the Sunday Times said allegations that she co-ordinated meetings between Bangladeshi and Russian officials are "trumped-up charges" and "completely politically motivated".

She is said to have repeated this view — and her belief that she is the victim of a "political hit job" — during her discussion with the PET official.

According to a source, she explained that she visited Moscow more than a decade ago to see her aunt because it was easier to fly to Russia than Bangladesh.

However, on Saturday the Daily Mail said that fresh questions had been raised over a $1 billion arms deal that was also signed at the meeting, the Sunday Times reported.

It also mentioned that the Mail said Hasina signed a deal for a $1 billion loan to Bangladesh to buy Russian weapons and military equipment.

Tulip was a Labour councillor at the time and became an MP in 2015. A party spokesman told the Mail: "The dealings of two countries from two years before Tulip became an MP have absolutely nothing to do with her."

Tulip, 42, has previously said that she only posed for Putin after he said: "Is your family here? I'd like a picture."

The Mail on Sunday reported that Bangladesh's Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) had a team of five officials gathering "documentary evidence" relating to Tulip and others, and was likely to write to them within weeks.

Depending on Tulip's response, investigators will decide whether to issue first information reports, which would make her an official suspect.

It is understood that Tulip has not yet been contacted by any of the relevant authorities, the Sunday Times reports.

A source told the British newspaper that officials were nervous about the potential for further embarrassment arising from her close relationship with Hasina, who, since being ousted, has been accused of crimes against humanity, including killing hundreds of protesters. Hasina fled to India in August following an uprising.

Tulip does not deny being close to Hasina, and previously praised her aunt as a "great role model", Sunday Times mentioned in its report.

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Rooppur power plant: Tulip quizzed in UK over graft allegations

UK Treasury's Economic Secretary Tulip Siddiq has been questioned by a Cabinet Office team on graft accusations brought by Bangladesh authorities.

Tulip, niece of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, agreed to attend a meeting with a representative of the propriety and ethics team (PET), reports the Sunday Times.

On Thursday, she welcomed the official to her office and gave her response to allegations that she helped her family embezzle up to £3.9 billion from the Russia-backed Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant Project.

Her explanation about the Russia deal was accepted at face value and the fact that her holding the meeting does not indicate that there is any kind of civil service investigation into her, the Sunday Times said.

According to the report, the Cabinet Office said: "As previously stated, the minister has denied any involvement."

Tulip, who represents the constituency of Hampstead & Highgate, was unavailable for comments.

As economic secretary to the Treasury, she is responsible for tackling corruption in the UK's financial markets.

Daughter of Sheikh Rehana, Tulip is accused of helping her aunt Hasina broker a corrupt deal with Russia for the £10 billion Rooppur plant in 2013.

The same year she posed for a picture with Russian President Vladimir Putin and her aunt at a signing ceremony for the deal, the report said.

Citing sources close to her, the Sunday Times said allegations that she co-ordinated meetings between Bangladeshi and Russian officials are "trumped-up charges" and "completely politically motivated".

She is said to have repeated this view — and her belief that she is the victim of a "political hit job" — during her discussion with the PET official.

According to a source, she explained that she visited Moscow more than a decade ago to see her aunt because it was easier to fly to Russia than Bangladesh.

However, on Saturday the Daily Mail said that fresh questions had been raised over a $1 billion arms deal that was also signed at the meeting, the Sunday Times reported.

It also mentioned that the Mail said Hasina signed a deal for a $1 billion loan to Bangladesh to buy Russian weapons and military equipment.

Tulip was a Labour councillor at the time and became an MP in 2015. A party spokesman told the Mail: "The dealings of two countries from two years before Tulip became an MP have absolutely nothing to do with her."

Tulip, 42, has previously said that she only posed for Putin after he said: "Is your family here? I'd like a picture."

The Mail on Sunday reported that Bangladesh's Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) had a team of five officials gathering "documentary evidence" relating to Tulip and others, and was likely to write to them within weeks.

Depending on Tulip's response, investigators will decide whether to issue first information reports, which would make her an official suspect.

It is understood that Tulip has not yet been contacted by any of the relevant authorities, the Sunday Times reports.

A source told the British newspaper that officials were nervous about the potential for further embarrassment arising from her close relationship with Hasina, who, since being ousted, has been accused of crimes against humanity, including killing hundreds of protesters. Hasina fled to India in August following an uprising.

Tulip does not deny being close to Hasina, and previously praised her aunt as a "great role model", Sunday Times mentioned in its report.

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