I'm not worried as I haven’t committed any crime: Dr Yunus

Grameen Telecom chairman Nobel laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus returns after facing quizzing at ACC headquarters on 5 October, 2023
Dipu Malakar

Grameen Telecom chairman Nobel laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus on Thursday said he was not worried as he did not commit any crime.

He said this while talking to newspersons after facing questions at the headquarters of Anti-Corruption Commission in Segunbagicha, Dhaka, in the morning.

Dr Yunus arrived at the ACC headquarters at 9:37 am as the anti-graft body sent a notice asking him to appear before it.

The newspersons asked Dr Yunus the details when he appeared after one hours’ quizzing at the ACC.

“I came here as I was summoned. Since this is a legal issue, my lawyer will talk to you in detail,” he said.

Dr Yunus’ lawyer and ACC sources said Grameen Telecom’s managing director Md Nazmul Islam, and director and former managing director Md Ashraful Hasan also arrived at the ACC headquarters. The quizzing began at 10:00 am. Dr Yunus and other officials of Grameen Telecom came out of the ACC office at around 11:00 am.

Grameen Telecom chairman Nobel laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus facies quizzing at ACC headquarters on 5 October, 2023
Dipu Malakar

Speaking to newspersons, Dr Yunus’ lawyer Abdullah Al Mamun said this case has no merit was and filed over imagined allegations.
He further stated, “As a lawyer of Dr Yunus, I went inside (ACC office) and presented all the legal explanations there.”

“They said the MoU was fake. I said you cannot say that was fake. When two parties sign an agreement out of consensus, that document it is not fake. This was granted by the High Court, so this cannot be a fake agreement. The agreement mentioned an account has to be opened along with the workers within seven days. We opened the account within seven days. Yes, we took permission over the phone as everybody could not gather at a time. We took everyone’s permission during a Zoom meeting on 9th. The ACC said you took permission later. I said if there was any delay, this was out of misunderstanding.”

Earlier, on Wednesday, ACC quizzed three officials of Grameen Telecom in connection with a case filed over misappropriation and laundering the money of the organisation.

Speaking to the media, ACC secretary Md Mahbub Hossain Wednesday said they summoned the three officials and quizzed them for the sake of investigation.

The three are - Grameen Telecom’s director Naznin Sultana, Nurjahan Begum and Hajjatul Islam Latifi.

Prior to that, ACC summoned 13 people including Dr Yunus to appear at its headquarters.

Grameen Telecom chairman Nobel laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus talks to media after facing quizzing at ACC headquarters on 5 October, 2023
Dipu Malakar

A case was filed against 13 people including Dr Yunus at ACC’s coordinated district office Dhaka-1 on 30 May this year on charges of misappropriation and laundering Tk 252.2 million.

The other accused are - Grameen Telecom’s managing director Md Nazmul Islam, director and former managing director  Md Ashraful Hasan, director  Parvin Mahmud, Naznin Sultana, Md Shahjahan, Nurjahan Begum, and director Hajjatul Islam Latifi.

Besides, lawyers Md Yusuf Ali, and Jafrul Hasan Sharif, Grameen Telecom Labour-Workers union president Md Kamruzzaman, general secretary Firoz Hasan Mahmud, and representative Md Mainul Islam have also been accused in the case.