ACC submits chargesheet against Dr Yunus, 14 others in embezzlement case

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) placed before a Dhaka court the chargesheet against Nobel laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus and 14 others in a case over the embezzlement of around Tk25 crore from dividends reserved for Grameen Telecom workers.

ACC Deputy Director Gulshan Anwar submitted the chargesheet to Judge Md Asaduzzaman of Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court.

According to the graft watchdog, the hearing on the chargesheet in the case, filed under the Money Laundering Prevention Act, is set for 3 March.

The ACC approved the chargesheet at a meeting on 29 January. 

In May last year, ACC Deputy Director Gulshan Anwar filed the case with the anti-graft body's integrated district office in Dhaka.

Besides Dr Yunus, other accused in the case are Grameen Telecom Managing Director Nazmul Islam, its directors Ashraful Hasan, Naznin Sultana, Parvin Mahmud, Md Shahjahan, Nurjahan Begum, and SM Huzzatul Islam Latifee, Sramik-Karmachari Union President Md Kamruzzaman, General Secretary Firoz Mahmud Hasan, representative Md Mainul Islam, Jatiya Sramik Federation Office Secretary Kamrul Hasan, lawyers Zafrul Hasan Sharif and Yusuf Ali. 

Though the case included Dr Yunus and 13 others, the chargesheet had another name, which this newspaper could not know.   

According to the case statement, a decision was made at the company's 108th board meeting, presided over by Dr Yunus, on 9 May 2022, to open a bank account at the Gulshan branch of Dhaka Bank. However, it was found that the account was already opened a day before the meeting.

Over Tk26 crore was transferred to the account on different occasions, as per "fake settlement agreements" and the decision of the board. 

However, before distributing the share of the company's profit to the workers and informing them, the accused, in collusion with each other, embezzled about Tk25 crore from the fund.