UK PM faces pressure to sack Tulip hit by Bangladesh graft probe

Published at : 13 January 2025, 10:08 pm
UK PM faces pressure to sack Tulip hit by Bangladesh graft probe
Photo: Collected

Britain prime minister Keir Starmer faced fresh pressure Monday to sack his anti-corruption minister Tulip Siddiq, as Bangladesh's graft watchdog filed new cases against her and her aunt, the country's ousted leader Sheikh Hasina, reports AFP.

Tulip Siddiq has been dogged by claims about her links to Hasina, who fled Bangladesh last August after a student-led uprising against her decades-long, increasingly authoritarian tenure as prime minister.

Hasina, 77, has defied extradition requests to face Bangladeshi charges including mass murder.

On Monday, Bangladesh's Anti-Corruption Commission announced she and family members including Tulip Siddiq were subject to another graft probe, this time over an alleged land grab of lucrative plots in a suburb of the capital Dhaka.

Family members including Tulip Siddiq had already emerged as named targets of the commission's investigation into accusations of embezzlement of $5 billion connected to a Russian-funded nuclear power plant.

Bangladeshi money laundering investigators have since ordered the country's big banks to hand over details of transactions relating to Siddiq as part of the probe.

Earlier this month, the UK minister referred herself to Starmer's standards adviser, following the flurry of allegations, which also included that she lived in properties linked to her aunt's Awami League party. Siddiq has insisted that she has done nothing wrong.

Asked Monday whether her position in the UK government remained tenable, senior British minister Pat McFadden told Sky News she had "done the right thing" with the self-referral.

He insisted the standards adviser had the powers to "carry out investigations into allegations like this". "That is what he is doing, and that is the right way to deal with this," McFadden said.

However, following further accusations in British newspapers over the weekend, UK opposition politicians want Siddiq fired.

"I think it's untenable for her to carry out her role," the Conservatives' finance spokesman Mel Stride told Times Radio on Sunday.

The party's business spokesman Andrew Griffith sought to focus the spotlight on Starmer, arguing Monday it was "about the tone at the top".

"Remember he called himself 'Mr Rules', 'Mr Integrity'," he told LBC News, referring to Starmer's pitch to voters before last year's general election that he represented a break with years of Tory scandals.

Siddiq is an MP for a north London constituency whose ministerial job is part of the finance ministry and responsible for the UK's financial services sector as well as anti-corruption measures.

Over the weekend, a Sunday Times investigation revealed details about the claims that she spent years living in a London flat bought by an offshore company connected to two Bangladeshi businessmen.

The flat was eventually transferred as a gift to a Bangladeshi lawyer with links to Hasina, her family and her ousted government, according to the newspaper.

It also reported Siddiq and her family were given or used several other London properties bought by members or associates of the Awami League party.

Bangladesh's interim leader, Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel Prize-winning microfinance pioneer who heads a caretaker government, demanded a detailed probe in light of the allegations.

He told the newspaper the properties could be linked to wider corruption claims against Hasina's toppled government, which he said amounted to the "plain robbery" of billions of dollars from Bangladesh's coffers.


MSH

PM reaches Washington DC from New York

Published at : 24 September 2023, 02:30 pm
PM reaches Washington DC from New York
File photo

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina arrived in Washington DC, the USA capital city, this afternoon after joining the 78th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session and other high-level side and bilateral events in New York.

 

She reached Washington DC from New York by road at 6pm.

On her arrival in Washington DC, Bangladesh Ambassador to the USA Muhammad Imran received the premier with a flower bouquet, reports BSS.

Earlier, she left her Place of Residence, Lotte New York for Washington DC at 12:30pm.

She arrived in New York on September 17.

The prime minister will leave Washington DC for London, the capital city of the United Kingdom, on September 29.

She will stay in London till October 3.

After wrapping up her visit, the prime minister will leave London for home and scheduled to reach Dhaka on October 4.

 

Bangladesh-US Ticfa meeting begins in Dhaka

Published at : 20 September 2023, 02:41 pm
Bangladesh-US Ticfa meeting begins in Dhaka

Bangladesh-US Ticfa meeting begins in Dhaka Additional Inspector General of police (IGP) Habibur Rahman has been made the new commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police. Bangladesh-US Ticfa meeting begins in Dhaka Additional Inspector General of police (IGP) Habibur Rahman has been made the new commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police. Bangladesh-US Ticfa meeting begins in Dhaka Additional Inspector General of police (IGP) Habibur Rahman has been made the new commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police. Bangladesh-US Ticfa meeting begins in Dhaka Additional Inspector General of police (IGP) Habibur Rahman has been made the new commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police. Bangladesh-US Ticfa meeting begins in Dhaka Additional Inspector General of police (IGP) Habibur Rahman has been made the new commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police. Bangladesh-US Ticfa meeting begins in Dhaka Additional Inspector General of police (IGP) Habibur Rahman has been made the new commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police.

Deal to ease trade in taka-rupee to be signed as Hasina

Published at : 08 September 2023, 01:43 am
Deal to ease trade in taka-rupee to be signed as Hasina

"An MoU will be signed between the National Payments Corporation of India and the Bangladesh Bank to make transactions in rupees and taka between Bangladesh and India easier," said the foreign minister in a press conference at the Foreign Service Academy in the capital on Thursday.

Besides, the neighbouring countries are likely to sign two more memorandums of understanding regarding cooperation in agricultural researches, and extension of the existing cultural exchange programme for two years, said the foreign minister.

Fair Technology launches car exchange programme

Published at : 07 September 2023, 02:29 pm
Fair Technology launches car exchange programme

Additional Inspector General of police (IGP) Habibur Rahman has been made the new commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police. Additional Inspector General of police (IGP) Habibur Rahman has been made the new commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police. Additional Inspector General of police (IGP) Habibur Rahman has been made the new commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police. Additional Inspector General of police (IGP) Habibur Rahman has been made the new commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police. Additional Inspector General of police (IGP) Habibur Rahman has been made the new commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police. Additional Inspector General of police (IGP) Habibur Rahman has been made the new commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police. Additional Inspector General of police (IGP) Habibur Rahman has been made the new commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police. Additional Inspector General of police (IGP) Habibur Rahman has been made the new commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police. Additional Inspector General of police (IGP) Habibur Rahman has been made the new commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police.