Tulip Siddiq is under increasing pressure to resign because of the real estate scandal

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British City Minister Tulip Siddiq is under increasing pressure to resign after being embroiled in a scandal involving the ousted Bangladesh government.

The minister responsible for fighting corruption has lived in several properties connected to her auntformer Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Awami League party. They are accused of siphoning funds from the country’s banking system, but they deny these allegations.

“It is high time for Tulip Siddiq to explain the source of her wealth and whether any of it came from the proceeds of her aunt’s alleged corrupt dealings,” said shadow home secretary Chris Philp.

He called on Sir Keir Starmer to “remove her from her role as anti-corruption minister until these questions are answered.” . The Prime Minister’s consistent failure to answer questions or take action shows he lacks strength and integrity.”

While Starmer still stands by Siddiq, a senior Labor official told the Financial Times that the party’s leadership was “finding it difficult to defend its personal financial affairs” and that its position was becoming increasingly untenable. “It becomes a millstone,” they said.

The FT revealed on Friday that Siddiq became the owner of a two-room apartment near King’s Cross in 2004 without paying for it. The property had been bought three years earlier for £195,000 by Abdul Motalif, a property developer with links to senior Awami League figures. An apartment similar to this property, which Siddiq still owns, sold in August for £650,000.

Over the weekend, the Sunday Times first reported that Siddiq had been living at another property in Hampstead that Moin Ghani, now a prominent lawyer representing Bangladesh’s Awami League-led government, had given to her sister. People with knowledge of Siddiq’s position confirmed her living conditions.

Ghani had previously listed the apartment in King’s Cross as his address. He did not respond to a request for comment.

She also rents a £2.1 million house in East Finchley owned by Abdul Karim, a senior member of the Awami League’s British wing. According to Land Registry documents, she moved into the property outside her constituency shortly after purchasing it in July 2022.

An ally of Siddiq said she was paying “market rates” and that the landlord-tenant relationship between her and Karim had been properly reported to parliamentary authorities.

Sheikh Hasina was ousted as prime minister last year after student protests and a violent crackdown. The interim government of Bangladesh has made this accusation Officials in her regime withdrew funds from the banking system to purchase property abroad. They have rejected the claims.

While Siddiq claims she did nothing wrong, she offers conflicting explanations as to how she came to own the property in King’s Cross. The Mail on Sunday reported that she initially told its journalists that the apartment had been bought by her parents.

“Tulip’s previous understanding of how she acquired ownership of the property has changed,” a person with knowledge of her position said.

The person added that Siddiq’s parents had actually provided “financial support” to an acquaintance and that the developer subsequently transferred a property they owned to Siddiq out of “gratitude.”

Siddiq paid no taxes when she acquired the property because it was a gift and therefore exempt from stamp duty, a tax on property purchases, the person said.

On Sunday, the person familiar with the details clarified that the financial support Siddiq’s parents had given Motalif had been fully repaid before the transfer of this property. They said she therefore owed no stamp duty and had taken legal advice on the matter.

A senior British official who covers Britain’s anti-kleptocracy policy told the FT: “The challenge is that ‘I got a gift from this guy in gratitude because my politically exposed family helped him’.” This is a report of this kind.” . Spending our time telling the banks is not good enough.”