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In a letter accepting Siddiq’s resignation, Sir Keir said the “door remains open” for her.<\/p>\n
Siddiq, whose role as Economic Secretary to the Treasury <\/b>included tackling corruption in UK financial markets, was named last month in an investigation into claims her family embezzled up to \u00a33.9bn from infrastructure spending in Bangladesh.<\/p>\n
Her aunt is the former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina, head of the Awami League, who fled into exile after being deposed last year.<\/p>\n
Siddiq, Labour MP for Hampstead and Highgate, also came under intense scrutiny over her use of properties in London linked to her aunt’s allies.<\/p>\n
The Financial Times reported that one of the properties, a flat in King’s Cross, had been given to her by a person connected with the recently ousted Bangladeshi government.<\/p>\n
According to the Mail on Sunday, in 2022 Siddiq had denied the flat was a gift and insisted her parents had bought it for her and had threatened the paper with legal action preventing publication of a story.<\/p>\n
Labour sources subsequently told the newspaper the flat had been gifted to Siddiq by a property developer with alleged links to her aunt.<\/p>\n
Sir Laurie spent eight days investigating the allegations after Siddiq referred herself to the standards watchdog.<\/p>\n
In his letter, Sir Laurie said Siddiq “acknowledges that, over an extended period, she was unaware of the origins of her ownership of her flat in Kings Cross, despite having signed a Land Registry transfer form relating to the gift at the time”.<\/p>\n
He said the MP “remained under the impression that her parents had given the flat to her, having purchased it from the previous owner”.<\/p>\n
This had led to the public being “inadvertently misled” about the identity of the donor of the flat, added Sir Laurie.<\/p>\n
Sir Laurie said this was an “unfortunate misunderstanding” which had led to Siddiq issuing a public correction of “the origins of her ownership after she became a minister”.<\/p>\n
In the letter, Sir Laurie said: “A lack of records and lapse of time has meant that, unfortunately, I have not been able to obtain comprehensive comfort in relation to all the UK property-related matters referred to in the media.<\/p>\n
“However, I have not identified evidence of improprieties connected with the actions taken by Ms Siddiq and\/or her husband in relation to their ownership or occupation of the London properties that have been the subject of press attention.<\/p>\n
“Similarly, I have found no suggestion of any unusual financial arrangements relating to Ms Siddiq’s ownership or occupation of the properties in question involving the Awami League (or its affiliated organisations) or the state of Bangladesh.<\/p>\n
“In addition, I have found no evidence to suggest that Ms Siddiq’s and\/or her husband’s financial assets, as disclosed to me, derive from anything other than legitimate means.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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In Bangladesh, there is an ongoing anti-corruption probe based on a series of allegations made by Bobby Hajjaj, a senior political opponent of Siddiq’s aunt Hasina.<\/p>\n
Court documents seen by the BBC show that Hajjaj accused Siddiq of helping her aunt to broker a deal with Russia in 2013 that over-inflated the price of a new nuclear power plant in Bangladesh.<\/p>\n
She attended the power plant’s signing ceremony and was pictured with Russian president Vladimir Putin.<\/p>\n
Sir Laurie said Siddiq had “explained the context” of that visit as “solely for the social purpose of joining family and enjoying the tourist access to the city facilitated as a result of her aunt’s official visit as head of state”. <\/p>\n
He said Siddiq had been clear that she had “no involvement in any inter-governmental discussions between Bangladesh and Russia or any form of official role”.<\/p>\n
“I accept this at face value,” he said, “but should note that this visit may form part of investigations in Bangladesh.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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