Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus Indicted for Embezzling $2 Million

A Dhaka court has indicted Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus and 13 others over the alleged embezzlement of more than USD two million from the dividends of a telecom company. The court rejected a plea to dismiss the charges, with the trial set to begin on July 15.

Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus and 13 others have been indicted by a Dhaka court for allegedly embezzling more than USD two million from a telecom company's employee dividends. The court, presided over by Judge Syed Arafat Hossain, rejected a plea to dismiss the charges, ordering the indictment on Wednesday.

Prosecution lawyers noted that Yunus and the co-accused pleaded not guilty and requested exemption but were denied. The court decided that the charges were sufficiently substantiated, leading to the framing of the charges and setting the trial date for July 15.

Yunus, widely known for his microcredit model and recipient of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, stands accused of embezzling funds from the workers' welfare fund of Grameen Telecom, which controls a significant stake in Bangladesh's largest mobile operator, Grameenphone. Amidst these allegations, Yunus faces over 150 cases, with global leaders and Nobel Laureates expressing concerns over his judicial harassment.

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