A beneficiary of grand corruption waged by a repressive regime? Or an innocent bystander caught in political crossfire from a country five thousand miles away?
Those are the questions at the core of an extraordinary argument that’s been raging for months between the Labour MP Tulip Siddiq and the authorities in Bangladesh.
Key to understanding this tangled tale is understanding both the recent history of Bangladesh and how Ms Siddiq’s family is woven into it.
Politics in the country was turned on its head last August after weeks of deadly protests triggered the ousting of longstanding prime minister Sheikh Hasina and her Awami League regime.
From there, a temporary government took charge led by an interim leader – or ‘Chief Adviser’ – the Nobel Prize-winning economist Professor Muhammad Yunus.
He pledged to begin legal proceedings to investigate crimes and human rights abuses allegedly committed under the previous regime and recover wealth that had been reportedly taken out of the country.
In March, my colleague Cordelia Lynch reported on torture chambers allegedly run by the ousted government and spoke to the interim leader who was clear about where the blame lay.
“Everybody was involved in it all,” he said. “The whole government was involved in it.”
He vowed action against Sheikh Hasina and those close to her.
Which is where Ms Siddiq enters the story.
Tulip Siddiq. File pic: PA
As well as being the niece of the former prime minister, she is also the granddaughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman – the founding president of modern Bangladesh.
Tulip Siddiq’s mother Sheikh Rehana has also been intimately involved in Bangladeshi politics and was reportedly by the side of her sister Sheikh Hasina when she fled Dhaka and resigned last August.
So these are not tangential or loose links.
And they – to an extent – explain why the Bangladeshi authorities are going after the Labour MP so vociferously.
In short, they see her as part of an establishment that they believe pilfered and abused Bangladesh for two decades.
So is this political guilt by association – in other words, a “vendetta” as Tulip Siddiq puts it – or is there substance to any of the allegations?
Some of the claims certainly stretch believability and appear very political in nature.
Sheikh Hasina with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi last year. Pic: AP
For instance, stories about her benefitting from billions of pounds siphoned off from a Russian nuclear deal appear to have emanated from a dubious-looking American website which also used an AI-generated image of Ms Siddiq to accompany their ‘reporting’.
The claims spread after a political opponent of Sheikh Hasina in Bangladesh filed a court claim off the back of them – allowing mainstream UK news outlets to safely report on the story.
Other accusations around the allocation of land are potentially more plausible, but as yet no hard evidence has emerged to back up the claims.
Read more:
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‘My lawyers are ready for questions’
There are some parts of this story that look trickier for Ms Siddiq though.
Property documentation does show links between her and associates of the Awami League.
The Bangladeshi authorities argue this means the Labour MP may have – even unknowingly – benefitted from wealth corruptly taken out of the country and used to purchase flats and houses in the UK.
Ms Siddiq says this has been looked at by the Number 10 ethics adviser and found to be in order.
Labour MP Tulip Siddiq speaking to Sky News
Briefing from sources close to the MP also suggests a defence that these property links were born out of regular family relationships rather than anything more political or financial in nature.
But a photo of Ms Siddiq in the Kremlin with her aunt in 2013 as well as the fact that she thanked Awami League supporters after her 2015 election suggests a more political context.
That said, disentangling politics and family when you are descended from one-time political royalty and standing as an MP in a city with a large Asian community may be easier said than done.
The Number 10 probe did suggest she should have been more mindful of the possible reputational damage done by these connections.
So this is a saga shaped more by Bangladeshi politics than British politics.
A country getting to grips with its past and preparing for the future, but producing side effects in the process that are reaching these shores.
