Tulip Siddiq used fake signature to transfer flat to sister, Bangladeshi prosecutor alleges

Anti-corruption authorities in Bangladesh have accused former UK City Minister Tulip Siddiq of using a fake notary document in a property transfer to her sister, as part of an investigation into the alleged unlawful allocation of state-owned land.

Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission claims Siddiq — the niece of the country’s former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina — used her political influence to secure government plots in Dhaka’s Purbachal New Town project for herself and her family, benefiting from the unlawful allocation of state-owned land.

The agency also alleges she used a fake notary to transfer a separate flat to her sister, according to a charge document released by the agency on Thursday.

The ACC will now submit its charges against Siddiq to the court, which has to approve before it can bring the case to prosecution, in a process that is widely regarded as a formality.

Siddiq resigned from her UK government post in January after facing political pressure following allegations first reported by the Financial Times that she had benefited from properties linked to the Awami League, the party led by her aunt, Sheikh Hasina. She has consistently denied any wrongdoing.

The Anti-Corruption Commission, which has powers to prosecute as well as investigate corruption cases, said it has drawn up charges against multiple members of Hasina’s family, including Siddiq, as part of a wider investigation into allegations of corruption involving state resources.

The agency claims that Hasina and her relatives secured government land in violation of eligibility rules, bypassing standard allocation procedures.

“It’s only the tip of an iceberg,” agency chair Dr Mohammad Abdul Momen told the FT. “There are a lot more allegations now under investigation with ACC that will speak of the colossal size of the corruption of the deposed prime minister and her immediate family members.”

Hasina’s 15-year rule as Bangladesh’s prime minister, marked by increasing authoritarianism, ended last August amid mass protests. Since then, a series of allegations involving corruption, land deals, and financial misconduct involving Hasina’s family have emerged,

The Anti-Corruption Commission contends that 60 katha (approximately one acre) of government land in the Purbachal New Town project, a major residential development on the outskirts of Dhaka, was unlawfully allocated to Hasina, her children, and close family members.

Investigators have alleged that Siddiq’s ownership of another property in Dhaka should have disqualified her from receiving a plot under the land allocation scheme, but that she and her family members manipulated regulations to gain access to the prime real estate.

This saw them bypass public lotteries and eligibility criteria designed to prevent politically connected individuals from obtaining land meant for civil servants.

As part of its broader investigation, the ACC also claims Siddiq used a fraudulent notary document to transfer ownership of a flat in Dhaka’s Gulshan area to her sister, Azmina Siddiq.

Supreme Court lawyer Gazi Sirazul Islam, whose seal appears on the document, denied notarising it, according to the charge sheet. While the seal bore his name, he stated, the signature did not match his own.

Islam also told investigators that he only notarises documents within his law chamber and had no prior acquaintance with either Tulip or Azmina Siddiq.

The disputed document, a Heba deed — an Islamic legal instrument for gifting property — dates back to 2015, when Siddiq was a Labour MP but before she was a government minister. The ACC alleges that the notary fraud was part of an effort to obscure the real ownership of the property.

A close ally of UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, Siddiq said in January that staying in her role — which included responsibility for tackling corruption — would be a distraction from government.

A spokesperson for Tulip Siddiq MP said: “Absolutely no evidence has been presented for these allegations. Tulip Siddiq has not been contacted on these matters and totally denies the claims.”