Dhaka: The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has filed a case against former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, her sister Sheikh Rehana, and another individual for the collection of Taka 276.34 crore from the corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds of 41 scheduled banks in the name of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Memorial Trust.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the third accused in the case is Md Nazrul Islam Mazumder, former president of the Bangladesh Association of Banks and former chairman of EXIM Bank PLC. ACC Secretary Saidur Rahman disclosed the information to journalists at the commission's Segunbagicha office this afternoon. The case was registered with the ACC's Integrated District Office, Dhaka-1, under sections 409 and 109 of the Penal Code of 1860 and section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947.
The ACC inquiry revealed that the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Memorial Trust was established through a registered deed on September 6, 1994, naming Sheikh Hasina as the lifetime president of the trust, with Sheikh Rehana designated to serve as president in her absence. The ACC alleged that a total of Taka 276,34,50,000 was collected in the name of the trust from the CSR funds of 41 scheduled banks, despite the trust lacking the necessary approvals from the social services department and the NGO Bureau.
The inquiry further discovered that then-BAB president Nazrul Islam Mazumder introduced the issue under the 'miscellaneous' agenda of an executive committee meeting, even though it was not included in the scheduled agenda. Subsequently, decisions were made at various executive committee meetings to allocate funds from the CSR accounts of 41 banks to the trust, as per the ACC's findings.
Following these decisions, letters were dispatched to various banks, and funds were collected from their CSR accounts in favor of the trust. According to the ACC, the accused acted in collusion, abused their authority, and exercised undue influence to collect the money from the CSR funds of various banks in the name of the trust. The case alleged that their actions constituted a criminal breach of trust and resulted in financial losses to the state. The alleged offences occurred between 2017 and 2024.