UK freezes sale of home owned by Sheikh Rehana amid graft probe involving Tulip Siddiq

The UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) has obtained an order to freeze the sale of a luxury London home owned by Sheikh Rehana — the younger sister of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, reports the Daily Mail.

The luxury property in Golders Green, North London, has been the main residence of Sheikh Rehana, 69, for the past 14 years and is now at the centre of a high-profile probe involving her daughter, Tulip Siddiq, a former City minister and Labour MP for Hampstead.

This is the second move by the UK government as part of a widening corruption and money laundering investigation linked to the former Awami League regime.

On Saturday, the NCA secured nine freezing orders preventing Ahmed Shayan Rahman, 42, son of Salman F Rahman—a prominent businessman and former private industry and investment adviser to Sheikh Hasina—and his cousin, Ahmed Shahryar Rahman, from selling high-end properties valued at nearly £90 million.

The NCA, often dubbed the “British FBI,” confirmed on Saturday that it had obtained an asset-freezing order on the property, which was purchased in 2011 for £1.2 million.

The home is registered in the Isle of Man tax haven and was bought by millionaire Ahmed Shayan Rahman.

Shayan was, until recently, the chairman of the British Asian Trust, a charity founded by King Charles. The trust said he stepped down following the NCA action.

The freezing order comes amid broader allegations that Tulip Siddiq and her family members siphoned off nearly £4 billion from a nuclear power plant deal with a Russian company. The UK agency’s probe is said to focus on money laundering linked to this alleged corruption. Bangladesh authorities are also reportedly conducting a parallel investigation.

Tulip, 42, who is Sheikh Hasina’s niece, resigned as City minister in January after a parliamentary standards inquiry into properties tied to her family, some of which were allegedly gifted by political allies in Bangladesh.

Tulip has not made any public comment, and efforts to reach Shayan Rahman on Saturday were unsuccessful.