The Dhaka Special Judge’s Court-4 on Wednesday charged Nobel laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus and 13 others with embezzlement of Tk 25.22 crore of Grameen Telecom Workers’ Welfare Fund.
ÌýJudge Syed Arafat Hossain passed the order dismissing petitions submitted by the 14 accused, including Grameen Telecom chairman Yunus, seeking discharge from the case filed under the Money Laundering Prevention Act.
ÌýThe court also fixed July 15 to start recording the testimony of the prosecution witnesses.
ÌýStanding in an iron cage during the court session, the 14 accused, includingÌý Yunus, now on bail, pleaded not guilty and demanded justice after the court read out the charges to them.
ÌýYunus, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for pioneering microcredit, told journalists that authorities were ‘harassing’ him and other colleagues and denied being involved in any corruption.
Criticising the standing of any accused in an iron cage during court proceedings, Yunus on the court premises also asked why a citizen of a civilised country should have to stand in an iron cage like an animal.
‘I was in the iron cage all day [during the hearing] today. Is that fair? Any accused person—against whom a case has been filed—is taken to the cage,’ he said.Ìý
‘As far as I know, the accused is innocent until proven guilty. So, it is humiliating for an innocent citizen to stand in an iron cage while the court is in session,’ he said, adding that it’s not just about his case, it shouldn’t apply to anyone.
The court permitted Yunus to sit on the bench, but the Nobel laureate preferred joining his co-accused in an iron cage.Ìý
Yunus urged everyone to raise their voice about this issue and sought a review of whether this was necessary.
Denying the graft allegations, he said, ‘We have served people all our lives. We did not come to embezzle money.’
In response to whether his alleged harassment was related to the formation of a political party, Yunus said, ‘Many kinds of harassment are being done. It is being said that I am a bloodsucker, a usurer, and an enemy of the country.’
Ìý‘It is also said that I withheld the money for the Padma Bridge and that I am involved in conspiracies everywhere—this is all harassment.
‘I was forcibly removed from Grameen Bank. Every year, new stories are being told, and I am the victim of continued harassment,’ Yunus added.
The 13 other accused are Grameen Telecom managing director Nazmul Islam, directors Ashraful Hassan, Naznin Sultana, Parvin Mahmud, M Shahjahan, Nurjahan Begum, and SM Huzzatul Islam Latifee, Sramik-Karmachari Union president Kamruzzaman, general secretary Firoz Mahmud Hasan and representative Mainul Islam, Jatiya Workers Federation office secretary Kamrul Hasan, and lawyers Zafrul Hasan Sharif and Yusuf Ali.
On May 30, last year, ACC deputy director Gulshan Anwar Prodhan filed the case with its integrated district office in Dhaka-1.
According to the case statement, at the 108th Board of Grameen Telecom meeting held on May 9, 2022, in the presence of the chairman and managing director, it was decided to open an account in the Gulshan branch of Dhaka Bank Ltd.
A settlement agreement was signed between the Grameen Telecom Employees Union and the company on April 27, 2022, for the distribution of dividends to the company’s employees.
Although the board meeting decision to open the account was held on May 9, the bank account was opened a day earlier, which was impossible.
According to ACC, with such a ‘false’ settlement agreement and the decision of the 108th Board meeting of Grameen Telecom, Tk 437 crore was transferred from the telecom bank accounts of United Commercial Bank Ltd to Dhaka Bank on May 10, 2022.
Later, as per the decision at the 109th board meeting held on June 22, 2022, an additional payment of Tk 1,63,91,389 was approved.
ACC said Tk 26, 22, 06,780 was transferred to the accounts of the employees at Dutch-Bangla Bank on three different dates, but only Tk 1 crore was paid as an advocate fee.Ìý
The remaining Tk 25, 22,01,780 was misappropriated before the dividends were disbursed among the employees, ACC claimed to have found in its investigation.
The money was embezzled by CBA leaders, lawyers, and others in connivance with Yunus and other board members, the ACC said.
Yunus denied the allegations when the ACC in October grilled him for over an hour at its headquarters in the case.Ìý
The 83-year-old Yunus, who is credited with lifting millions out of poverty with his pioneering microfinance bank, is now facing more than 170 cases over various charges.Ìý
On January 1, Yunus and three others were convicted for six months imprisonment by a Dhaka Labuor Court in a case filed on charges of violating labour laws at Grameen Telecom.
Later, they challenged the verdict to the Appellate Tribunal in Dhaka and are awaiting the verdict.
Last year, more than 170 global leaders and Nobel laureates urged Bangladesh’s prime minister Sheikh Hasina, to suspend legal proceedings against Yunus.
Yunus’s supporters say he has been targeted because of his frosty relations with prime minister Sheikh Hasina, but the government has denied the allegations.
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Muhammad Yunus
