A Dhaka court has granted bail to Nobel laureate Prof Dr Muhammad Yunus in a case filed over the misappropriation of over Tk25 crore of Grameen Telecom Workers' Profit Participation Fund.
Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Ash-Shams Joglul Hossain passed the order after Dr Yunus surrendered before the court and sought bail.
Dr Yunus's lawyer, Abdullah Al Mamun, sought bail in the hearing. Anti-Corruption Commission lawyer Mosharraf Hossain Kajol opposed the bail plea. After hearing both sides, the court granted him bail.
On February 1, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed a charge sheet against Grameen Telecom Chairman Dr Muhammad Yunus and 13 others in a case filed for embezzling Tk25 crore.
On May 30, 2023, ACC filed the case with its Dhaka-1 integrated district office.
According to the case documents, a decision was made at the company's 108th board meeting, presided over by Dr Yunus on May 9, 2022, to open a bank account at the Gulshan branch of Dhaka Bank Limited. However, it was found that the account was opened a day before the decision was even made.
More than Tk25 crore was transferred to the account on different occasions, as per “fake settlement agreements” and 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.