Tk304cr graft: HC rejects bail, hands over 4 NSU trustees to police

The High Court has rejected the bail pleas of four North South University trustees who applied for anticipatory bail to avoid arrest in a case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) for embezzling Tk303.82 crore.

The four members of the university's Board of Trustees are MA Kashem, Benazir Ahmed, Rehana Rahman, and Mohammad Shahjahan.

The court heard their bail application on Wednesday and Thursday.

Barristers Ajmalul Hossain QC, AF Hasan Arif, Fida M Kamal, and Mizan Saeed took part in the hearing in favour of the accused.

The state was represented by Attorney General AM Amin Uddin and Deputy Attorney General Biswajit Debnath. AKM Amin Uddin Manik and Md Khurshid Alam Khan represented the ACC.

On 5 May, ACC Deputy Director Md Farid Ahmed Patwari filed a case against six people, including the chairman of the university's board of trustees, for embezzling Tk303.82 crore in the course of purchasing land for the university.

Besides the four members of the Board of Trustees, Azim Uddin Ahmed, chairman of the board, and Amin Mohammad Hilali, managing director of Ashaloy Housing and Developers Limited, were also charged in the case.

According to the case statement, the money was embezzled in the name of campus development with the consent of a few members of the Board of Trustees, without informing the University Syndicate, the University Grants Commission, and the Ministry of Education.

The allegation against them is that despite actually buying the land at a lower price, for the nefarious purpose of embezzling money. They recorded a higher purchase price, only to take cash in a kickback from the seller in fixed deposit accounts (FDR) which they later wholly withdrew.

The Board of Trustees is the highest governing body of North South University under the Private Universities Act, 2010.