Dr Muhammad Yunus sued by ACC in money embezzlement case

Nobel laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus has been made prime accused in a case filed by the anti-corruption commission (ACC) over embezzling more than Tk 252.2 million from the workers’ welfare trust of Grameen Telecom.

12 others were accused in the case. The deputy director of ACC Gulshan Anwar Prodhan filed the case with the integrated district office in Dhaka. Later the ACC secretary Md Mahbub Hossain informed the media of the matter at a press conference at the ACC’s head office in Segunbagicha.

The other accused of the case are the managing director of Grameen Telecom Md Nazmul Islam, former managing director Md Ashraful Hasan, five directors Parveen Mahmud, Nazneen Sultana, Md Shahjahan, Nurjahan Begum and SM Hajjatul Islam Latifi, Md Yusuf Ali and Zafrul Hasan Sharif, Grameen Telecom workers union president Md Kamruzzaman, general secretary Firoz Mahmud Hasan and representative Md Mainul Islam.

Dr Muhammad Yunus is the chairman of Telecom.

It is alleged in the case statement that the company didn’t distribute the allotted Tk 455.2 million to their employees from the workers welfare trust. They rather embezzled the money. Besides, Tk 29.77 billion was transferred to different bank accounts belonging to the associated organisations in a bid to launder the funds.       

In the press conference, Mahbub Hossain said the deputy director general of the department of inspection for factories and establishments sent a report to the ACC that contained allegations against the board of directors of Grameen Telecom. Later a three-member body was formed on 28 July to investigate the matter. As a part of the investigation, the ACC questioned the six directors of the company in several phases.   

In the probe, they found Nobel laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus guilty.