Bangladesh Nobel laureate granted bail in graft case

Dhaka, March 3

A court in Bangladesh on Sunday granted bail to Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus in a USD 2.3 million embezzlement case.Yunus, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for pioneering the use of microcredit to help impoverished people, was sentenced to six months in prison in January on a separate charge of violating labour laws. He was granted bail in that case too and has appealed.

Prosecutor Mir Ahmmad Ali Salam said the embezzlement case involves a workers welfare fund of Grameen Telecom, which owns 34.2 per cent of the country’s largest mobile phone company, Grameenphone, a subsidiary of Norway’s telecom giant Telenor.

“The charges involve the embezzlement of over 250 million takas and money laundering. The accused gave the money to trade union leaders instead of the workers. This way they deprived the ordinary workers of their rightful earnings,” Salam said. — AP