Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus and 13 others were indicted by a Bangladeshi court on Wednesday (12) on charges of embezzling Taka 252.2 million (equivalent to $2 million) from the welfare fund of workers at your telecommunications company.
Yunus, 83, and his Grameen Bank won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for working to lift millions out of poverty by providing small loans of less than $100 to Bangladesh’s rural poor, pioneering a global movement now known as microfinance .
The indictment alleges that Yunus and the others embezzled Taka 252.2 million from the welfare fund of Grameen Telecom, which holds a 34.2% stake in Grameenphone, the country’s largest mobile phone company and a subsidiary of the giant Norwegian telecommunications company Telenor TEL.OL. They are also accused of money laundering.
Yunus denied any involvement in corruption, telling reporters that he and his co-workers were being harassed by authorities.
Special Judge Syed Arafat Hossain rejected calls for the charges to be dropped, saying the prosecution had preliminarily demonstrated misappropriation of funds and illegal transfers of money abroad.
The trial will begin on July 15, he said.
In January, Yunus was sentenced to six months in prison for labor law violations, which he denied.
Although he is not in jail after securing bail in that case, Yunus faces more than 100 cases related to rape and corruption charges, which he said in an interview with Reuters last week were “very flimsy and fabricated stories.”
During the interview, Yunus said Bangladesh has turned into a “one-party” state as the ruling party eliminates political competition. The government denied his allegations about the cases and the style of government.
Source: CNN Brasil
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