Staff Reporter:
A court in Dhaka on Thursday set 2 June for holding a hearing on charge framing in a case filed against Grameen Telecom Chairman and Nobel Laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus and 13 others for allegedly embezzling Tk25 crore from the company and laundering abroad.
Today was fixed for holding an indictment hearing, but Judge Syed Arafat Hossain of the Dhaka Special Judge Court-4 rescheduled the hearing date, allowing a time plea of the defence.
Meanwhile, the court also extended the tenure of the bail of the accused on earlier conditions.
Apart from Dr Yunus, 13 other accused in the case are – Grameen Telecom Managing Director Nazmul Islam, directors Ashraful Hasan, Naznin Sultana, Parvin Mahmud, Md Shahjahan, Nurjahan Begum, and Prof SM Huzzatul Islam Latifee, Grameen Telecom Sramik-Karmachari Union President Md Kamruzzaman and General Secretary Firoz Mahmud Hasan, lawyers Zafrul Hasan Sharif and Yusuf Ali, the union’s representative Md Mainul Islam, and Jatiya Workers Federation Office Secretary Kamrul Hasan.
Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Deputy Director Gulshan Anwar, also the investigating officer in the case, submitted a charge sheet against the accused on 1 February.
On 2 April, Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge Court took into cognizance the charge sheet and sent the case to Dhaka Special Judge Court-4 for further proceedings.
According to the case documents, 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 Gulshan branch of Dhaka Bank Limited. But it was found that the account was opened a day before the decision was even made.
More than Tk26 crore was transferred to the account on different occasions, as per “fake settlement agreements” and the decision of the board. But before even distributing the share of the company’s profit to the workers, and letting them know, the accused embezzled around Tk25 crore from the fund.
