Hasina and Rehana sued by ACC over alleged embezzlement of Tk 276 crore
Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her sister Sheikh Rehana. Photo: Collected
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has filed a case against ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her sister Sheikh Rehana over allegations of embezzling more than Tk 276 crore in the name of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Memorial Trust.
ACC Secretary Md. Saidur Rahman Khan disclosed the information at a press conference at the ACC office on Thursday afternoon.
The case was filed at the ACC's Dhaka District Office. Former EXIM Bank Chairman Nazrul Islam Mazumder has also been named as a defendant in the case.
The ACC said the case was filed over allegations that Tk 276 crore 34 lakh 50 thousand was embezzled from the corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds of 41 banks in the name of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Memorial Trust.
ACC Secretary Md. Saidur Rahman Khan said that an investigation found that the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Memorial Trust was formed with Sheikh Hasina as its president and Sheikh Rehana as its vice president. Despite the organization not having approval from the Department of Social Services or the NGO Affairs Bureau, they illegally took Tk 276 crore 34 lakh 50 thousand from the CSR funds of 41 scheduled banks and caused financial loss to the state.
The case also alleges that former EXIM Bank Chairman Nazrul Islam Mazumder used his influence as chairman of the Bangladesh Association of Banks (BAB) to force the banks to provide money in favor of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Memorial Trust.
The first information report (FIR) said that although the matter was not on the agenda of the BAB executive committee meeting, it was presented under miscellaneous discussions. Decisions were then made through various executive committee meetings to provide the money from the CSR funds of 41 banks. Based on the decision, letters were sent to various banks to provide money to the trust.
The ACC secretary claimed that the accused established an organization named the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Memorial Trust with criminal conduct and dishonest intentions. They embezzled the money by withdrawing it from the banks' CSR funds without carrying out any of the activities they had promised.
Among the accused, Sheikh Hasina was ousted from power in the 2024 student people uprising and is currently taking shelter in India. Her sister Sheikh Rehana is in the United Kingdom. Nazrul Islam Mazumder was arrested and is currently in jail.
