The departure is the second high-profile resignation from Mr. Starmer’s government in recent months, after Louise Haigh quit as transport secretary in November when it emerged that she had been convicted of a fraud offense involving a phone a decade ago.
Unlike Ms. Haigh, Ms. Siddiq was not a member of the cabinet, but she was regarded as a political ally of Mr. Starmer’s, and the nature of her government role added to the embarrassment. She has been replaced by Emma Reynolds, another junior minister.
Ms. Siddiq was named in December in an investigation into claims that her family had embezzled up to £3.9 billion pounds, or nearly $5 billion, from infrastructure projects in Bangladesh.
Officials of the new Bangladeshi government have accused Ms. Hasina and her associates of siphoning off billions of dollars from the country every year, bringing its economy to the verge of collapse.
Ms. Siddiq was born in London. Her father was an academic, and her mother, Sheikh Rehana, is the sister of Ms. Hasina. The two sisters were the only survivors of a 1975 military coup that massacred the rest of their family, including their father, Sheikh Mujib ur Rehman, the founding leader of Bangladesh.
