It is alleged that £3.9 billion was siphoned off
Labour MP Tulip Siddiq has been named in court documents detailing claims her family embezzled billions of pounds from a nuclear power project in Bangladesh.
The Economic Secretary allegedly helped coordinate meetings with the Russian government regarding the Rooppur nuclear power plant project.
Ms Siddiq is named alongside her aunt, Bangladesh’s former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The documents cite an online news report from August 2024 and suggest Ms Siddiq received embezzled funds from the artificial inflation of construction costs of the power plant – which was mainly funded by the Russian government.
It is alleged that £3.9 billion was siphoned off from the project’s budget “in collusion with Russian officials”.
The Conservative Party claimed the allegations were “the latest stain on Keir Starmer’s judgement”.
Shadow Home Office minister Matt Vickers said it was time for Sir Keir’s “anti-corruption minister” to “come clean”.
Reportedly, Ms Siddiq has not been approached by Bangladeshi authorities.
According to a party source, the accusations originated from a “spurious American aerospace website”.
Downing Street said the Prime Minister had confidence in Ms Siddiq.
Bobby Hajjaj, a political opponent of Hasina, made the legal claim.
Hasina resigned as PM in August 2024 and fled Bangladesh.
Her departure followed weeks of protests in the country and the new government accused Hasina of several crimes while in office.
In 2013, Ms Siddiq was pictured with Hasina at a signing ceremony in the Kremlin alongside the Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Ms Siddiq was a councillor in Camden at the time.
It was reported that Moscow planned to lend Bangladesh £1.2 billion to finance the construction of nuclear power stations and to buy Russian arms.
The PM’s official spokesperson said Ms Siddiq had “denied any involvement in the claims” of embezzlement and continued to maintain her responsibility as a minister overseeing UK anti-corruption efforts.
On whether there was any conflict of interest in Ms Siddiq’s involvement in a 2013 Bangladeshi deal with Russia over a nuclear power plant and her ministerial role, the spokesperson said:
“I can’t speak to events that happened prior to a minister’s time in government.”
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Sheikh Hasina’s Bangladeshi Awami League Party said the embezzlement allegations are “fabricated”.
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