The Appellate Division on Wednesday set April 23 for delivering its verdict on Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus’ appeal to quash a money laundering case against him.
Attorney general Md Asaduzzaman and Anti-Corruption Commission lawyer Ashif Hasan told the court that Yunus had not committed money laundering and that labour-related disputes did not fall under money laundering laws.
The case was initially withdrawn by the trial court on August 11, 2024, at the ACC’s request, three days after Yunus became the chief adviser of the interim government.
The attorney general argued that the ACC withdrew the case without notifying him, misleading the public into believing he had used his influence to have the charges dropped.
Yunus challenged this move, calling it ‘arbitrary and unjust’ to frustrate his appeal seeking to clear him on scrutinising the merit of the case.
The attorney general stated that the Tk 25 crore in question was legally paid to lawyers as part of a settlement agreement and did not involve embezzlement.
The AG and the ACC emphasised that financial matters within a private company should be handled as accounting issues rather than criminal offenses.
ACC lawyer Ashif Hasan acknowledged that disputes over employee dividends should be handled by the Labour Court, not under money laundering laws, and agreed to the attorney general’s position.
The case, which was filed by the ousted Awami League government, involved allegations of misappropriation and money laundering related to a Tk 437 crore settlement with 164 dismissed workers.
Senior lawyer Abdullah Al Mamun appeared for Yunus.