Tulip face questions if she misled UK parliament on flat ownership

Former Labour city minister Tulip Siddiq has faced questions over whether she misled the UK parliament over the ownership of an apartment in Bangladesh, reports The Daily Mail, reports bdnews24.com.

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) in Bangladesh is investigating the MP over the apartment - valued at £600,000, the UK-based publication says.

Tulip (42) told the Mail she received the apartment as a gift from her parents in 2002 and transferred it 'lawfully and legitimately' to her sister Azmina within weeks of her election to parliament in May 2015.

The records in the Westminster's Register of Members' Interests say she co-owned the property with a family member in June 2015 and transferred it in June 2015.

The Daily Mail says that according to searches at the Dhaka Sub Registry Office, Tulip still owns the flat, as alleged by the ACC.

A court in Bangladesh is now to decide on who owns it.

The ACC says Tulip attempted to transfer ownership of the flat to Azmina in 2015 using a Heba, an Islamic document that allows a person to hand over an asset to a family member. The ACC claims the Heba is 'fake' as the barrister who authenticated it denied his involvement and alleged that his signature was forged.

However, Tulip's lawyers say the Heba was executed correctly and she declared the flat was 'co-owned with a family member' since the rental income went to her sister. They have also called the ACC's allegations "false and vexatious".

On Friday, Tulip's lawyer Paul Thwaite said a Bangladeshi legal expert had told him the Heba document was sufficient for a transfer and the registry records were "unreliable".