'Arrest warrant issued' in Bangladesh for former Labour minister Tulip Siddiq - as she denies corruption charges
13 April 2025, 13:32 | Updated: 13 April 2025, 15:53
An arrest warrant has reportedly been issued for ex-Labour minister Tulip Siddiq over corruption charges brought by Bangladeshi authorities.
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According to a court ruling in Bangladesh, the former anti-corruption minister is said to be wanted over claims she illegally received land from her aunt’s regime.
Ms Siddiq is the niece of Sheikh Hasina, the exiled former prime minister of Bangladesh who was removed from power last year following an uprising.
The ex-Labour minister stepped down in January amid controversy over her alleged involvement in brokering a 2013 deal with Russia.
Anti-corruption authorities are said to have issued the warrant for the British Labour MP, after Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) was informed she had received a 7,200 square feet plot in the diplomatic zone of the capital Dhaka through “abuse of power and influence”.
Ms Siddiq's denies all allegations against her, with her legal team insisting the charges are "politically motivated".
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Paul Thwaite, a senior partner at Stephenson Harwood who is representing the Labour MP, said the legal team has "no knowledge" of any arrest warrant being issued by the ACC or any authorities in Bangladesh.
"The ACC has made various allegations against Ms Siddiq through the media in the last few months. The allegations are completely false and have been dealt with in writing by Ms Siddiq’s lawyers," the firm confirmed.
"The ACC has not responded to Ms Siddiq or put any allegations to her directly or through her lawyers. Ms Siddiq knows nothing about a hearing in Dhaka relating to her and she has no knowledge of any arrest warrant that is said to have been issued.
"To be clear, there is no basis at all for any charges to be made against her, and there is absolutely no truth in any allegation that she received a plot of land in Dhaka through illegal means.
"She has never had a plot of land in Bangladesh, and she has never influenced any allocation of plots of land to her family members or anyone else. No evidence has been provided by the ACC to support this or any other allegation made against Ms Siddiq, and it is clear to us that the charges are politically motivated."
The new charges are thought to be separate from the £4 billion Russian embezzlement investigation by the ACC into the nuclear deal.
The deal, which led to her resignation, involved a nuclear power plant in Bangladesh in which large sums of cash are said to have been embezzled.
Following the ruling in Bangladesh, a spokesman for the ACC confirmed to The Telegraph that an arrest warrant had been issued over a plot in the Purbachal New Town Project.
Ms Siddiq resigned from her post in the Treasury earlier this year following an investigation by the Prime Minister’s ethics adviser into her links to her aunt’s regime, which was overthrown last year.
Although Sir Laurie Magnus concluded that she had not breached the Ministerial Code, he advised Sir Keir Starmer to reconsider Ms Siddiq’s responsibilities.
He said: “Given the nature of Ms Siddiq’s ministerial responsibilities, which include the promotion of the UK financial services sector and the inherent probity of its regulatory framework as a core component of the UK economy and its growth, it is regrettable that she was not more alert to the potential reputational risks – both to her and the Government – arising from her close family’s association with Bangladesh.”
But Ms Siddiq chose to resign, saying she had become “a distraction” from the Government’s agenda.Ms Siddiq and the ACC have both been contacted for comment.Ms Siddiq has consistently denied any wrongdoing.
