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Tulip Siddiq, the minister of the Treasury responsible for the City of London, has been called in the request of the court of Bangladesh accusing his family of embezzling 5bn billion dollars, and the Supreme Court of the country has ordered an investigation into the matter.
Siddiq has refused to publicly comment on claims linking former prime minister Sheikh Hasina – Siddiq's aunt – with the $12 billion nuclear power plant Bangladesh is building with Russian help.
A Downing Street spokesman said the prime minister did not care about the allegations and “the minister denied any involvement in the allegations”.
“So far it's just media speculation in relation to the investigation. We have not seen any official details and the minister has not been contacted by the relevant authorities,” they said.
“There is a process for ministers to express appropriate interest, the minister has done so where appropriate,” they added.
Siddiq is the economic secretary at the UK Treasury and a close friend of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. He has been the Member of Parliament for Hampstead and Highgate since 2015.
The court petition was brought by Bobby Hajjaj, a political opponent of Sheikh Hasina and the chairman of the Bangladeshi Nationalist Democratic Movement, who alleged fraud in the Rooppur nuclear power plant project.
At an estimated cost about $12 billionone of the largest infrastructure projects in the history of Bangladesh. The plant was built by Rosatom, the Russian government's nuclear giant.
Hajjaj alleged in the Supreme Court of Bangladesh in September that the price of the nuclear plant was increased in the deal with Rosatom and $ 5bn was distributed to Sheikh Hasina and her family.
The Supreme Court earlier this week ordered the Anti-Corruption Commission to investigate Hajjaj's claims of fraud, according to court documents seen by the Financial Times. The ACC did not respond to requests for comment on Thursday.
“A significant part of this money ended up in the UK,” Hajjaj told the FT, urging the Starmer government to “vigorously investigate” the allegations against Siddiq. “He deserves to be suspended,” he said.
Labor officials say they are trying to find out the truth of the matter and say Siddiq is not saying anything yet. He told his colleagues that he had not met the ACC.
“Anyone can lodge a complaint with the ACC,” said another Labor official.
In January 2013 Siddiq went to the Kremlin with Sheikh Hasina as part of the delegation that signed the nuclear and weapons agreement between Bangladesh and Russia.
The event saw Vladimir Putin offer Bangladesh a $1bn loan to buy equipment and $500mn to help build Rooppur, the South Asian country's first nuclear power plant.
Sheikh Hasina, pictured alongside Siddiq and Putin, said the financial assistance for the nuclear power plant was “a shining example of our deep engagement”.
Downing Street insisted that Starmer had full confidence in Siddiq, but the allegations have caused panic in central government. “It's complicated,” said one senior government official.
Last month, Starmer quickly sacked Louise Haigh, his transport secretary, after a previous conviction for mobile phone fraud was revealed, fearing bad news about the minister.
Siddiq represents the neighboring seat of Starmer in north London and the two MPs are close family friends.
Sheikh Hasina fled to India in early August after student-led protests ended her 15-year rule. His Awami League has been accused by political rivals and human rights groups of rigging elections, carrying out extrajudicial killings and occupying government institutions.
Sheikh Hasina and colleagues face the number of investigations by the acting government of Bangladesh over allegations of extortion.
In a speech broadcast earlier this month Sheikh Hasina accused Bangladesh's interim leader and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus of being the “mastermind” of the violence and rebellion that led to his ouster. His son has also denied allegations of fraud and abuse by dictators.
The Awami League says Yunus has “armed” the justice system and law enforcement agencies against them. It did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ACC investigation.
A spokesman for the interim government declined to comment.