Amber Rudd, the Home Secretary since July, has been allegedly linked to offshore businesses in the Bahamas by leaked documents.

Ms Rudd has reportedly been a director of two companies based in the Caribbean tax haven, a Guardian investigation has claimed.

Before her political career, she was also director of a British-based company where a co-director was later imprisoned for fraud.

While defending former Prime Minister David Cameron regarding his father's investment company in the Bahamas, Ms Rudd did not mention her own reported links to the tax haven.

The Home Secretary was allegedly included in a list of 175,000 Bahamas registered companies leaked to the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

The leaked files name Ms Rudd as a director of the Bahaman companies Advanced Asset Allocation Fund and Advanced Asset Allocation Management between 1998 and 2000. Companies House records identify the her as a director of Monticello plc which was investigated for share ramping.

Co-director Mark O'Hanlon gave an interview in January 2000 where he was later found to be making false statements about its prospects.

Following the interview, Monticello's share prices increased rapidly before trading was suspended. Ms Rudd resigned five months later, two days before she also resigned her directorship of Advanced Asset Allocation Management.

Following an investigation by the Department of Trade and Industry, O'Hanlon was convicted of making a false statement and was sentenced 18 months later.

The Home Secretary's spokesperson told the Guardian: “It is a matter of public record that Amber had a career in business before entering politics.

"Monticello was thoroughly investigated 16 years ago and those who acted wrongly were identified and prosecuted.”

(Independent)