Treasury minister given London flat by developer linked to ousted Bangladesh regime

Treasury minister Tulip Siddiq was given a two-bedroom apartment by a figure connected to the recently deposed Bangladeshi government, it was reported last night.

Developer Abdul Motalif is understood to have donated the two-bedroom home in central London to Ms Siddiq in 2004, without a payment being made.

Mr Motalif has links to Ms Siddiq’s aunt, the former prime minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, who ruled the country with an iron fist.

She fled Bangladesh to India in August with Ms Siddiq’s mother Sheikh Rehana after the deaths of hundreds of protesters.

The King’s Cross property, which Ms Siddiq still owns, was purchased in January 2001 for £195,000. A neighbouring property recently sold for £650,000, according to the Financial Times.

Ms Siddiq faced calls to step back from anti-corruption work last month amid claims she helped her family embezzle £4 billion from a nuclear power project. The Rooppur nuclear plant was built in Bangladesh by Russian state-owned company Rosatom.

But the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation – which Ms Siddiq oversees – has imposed at least 45 measures on companies and individuals linked to Rosatom over the war on Ukraine. Actions against Rosatom subsidiaries must be regularly reviewed by Hampstead MP Ms Siddiq.

Bangladesh’s high court has heard claims that Ms Siddiq, 42, may have helped to ‘broker’ the nuclear plant deal, worth £10billion. It was signed in the Kremlin in 2013 by Hasina and Vladimir Putin in the presence of Ms Siddiq – then a Labour councillor. Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) says the alleged embezzlement was between 2009 and 2023 while Ms Hasina was prime minister.

Treasury minister Tulip Siddiq was given a two-bedroom apartment by a figure connected to the recently deposed Bangladeshi government

Ms Siddiqs aunt, former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina with Russian president Vladimir Putin

The ACC is also investigating Ms Siddiq’s mother, 69, her ex-PM aunt, 77, and two other relatives. They are alleged to have siphoned off £3.9billion through fake companies and Malaysian bank accounts. 

Reports last night reveal electoral roll data show that Mr Motalif allowed Moin Ghani, a lawyer who went on to represent the government led by Ms Hasina’s Awami League, to live in the King’s Cross flat before Ms Siddiq did in the early 2000s.

Mr Motalif also shared an address with Mojibul Islam, the son of a former Awami League MP, between 2014 and 2024, indicating his links with the Hasina government.

Last night sources told the Mail the property was transferred to Ms Siddiq as an act of gratitude after her parents provided financial support to Mr Motalif during a ‘challenging time in his life’.

Questions have already been raised over Ms Siddiq’s involvement with the Awami League before she became a Labour MP.

Downing Street has insisted that the Prime Minister retains confidence in Ms Siddiq

She is believed to have worked for the party’s EU and UK ‘lobbying unit and election strategy team’. 

Since 2022, she has rented a £2.1million home owned by Abdul Karim, a member of the UK wing of the Awami League. Last month, she was forced to deny allegations that she co-ordinated meetings with Bangladeshi and Russian officials over the new nuclear plant deal.

No 10 have maintained that the Prime Minister ‘has confidence’ in her. As the Treasury’s Economic Secretary, Ms Siddiq is responsible for tackling corruption in UK financial markets.

A spokesman for Ms Siddiq said: ‘Any suggestion that Tulip Siddiq’s ownership of this property, or any other property is in any way linked to support for the Awami League, would be categorically wrong.’