TE24 Bangladesh Desk
Evidence of illegal transactions worth around Tk 25 crore has been found in the bank accounts of lawyers and union leaders of Grameen Telecom, the company of Nobel laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus.
The illegal transaction took place after Yunus and his association withdrew each of the 110 cases recorded by the Grameen Telecom Association of Labor and Workers in various courts against Grameen Telecom.
On Thursday, High Court Justice Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar reactivated the case between Grameen Telecom and the Grameen Telecom Association of Workers and Representatives.
The court directed both the parties to submit a joint statement on the arrears of salaries of the employees of Grameen Telecom, an organization owned by Dr Yunus.
The judge asked the plaintiffs and defendants’ lawyers to appear in court on August 2 with copies of the memorandum of understanding and other evidence on the settlement outside the court.
Prior to April 27, an agreement was signed between Grameen Telecom and the Grameen Telecom Association of Workers and Workers on the condition that the delegates pay more than Rs 4.37 billion in arrears.
On May 23, the High Court passed an application for termination of Grameen Telecom, pardoning the appeal filed by the employees.
As per the arrangement, Grameen Telecom opened an account (Grameen Telecom, 2151500002568) at Gulshan branch of Dhaka Bank on May 10 and credited all the arrears (Rs 4.37 billion) to the employees from another account of United Commercial Bank (05613010100000). According to Grameen Telecom sources.
About Rs 262.2 million has been transferred from the record of Dhaka Bank signed by M Kamruzzaman, President of Grameen Telecom Workers and Representatives Association and Firoz Mahmud, General Secretary to the record of Dutch Bangla Bank (1011100047172).
According to the data, Rs 100 million with check number 1489199, Rs 145.8 million with check number 1489367 and Rs 163.9 million with check number 1489369 were transferred from the records of Dhaka Bank to Dutch Bangla Bank account on May 17.
Subsequently, from 19 May to 2 June, Rs. Rs 25 crore has been transferred from Dutch Bangla with 13 checks in the personal records of Grameen Telecom’s legal advisers and heads of associations.
Out of the Tk 2.5 crore, Yusuf Ali, legal adviser and labor representative of Grameen Telecom Association, Yusuf Ali, joint convener of Singra Upazila BNP in Natore area got Tk 90 crore and another lawyer of Grameen Telecom Association Jafrul Hasan Chowdhury got Tk 60 crore. And their regulation firm ‘Ukil’ got Rs 10 crore.
Similarly, legal counsel Jafrul Hasan Chowdhury has allegedly taken cash from a board of the Factory and Establishment Inspection Department to provide information to his colleague Yusuf Ali about the opportunity of the legal counsel.
Kamruzzaman, president of the association, Mahmud Hasan Firoz, general secretary and Mainul Islam, head of another association, received Tk 3 crore.
Besides, Lokman and Kamrul withdrew Rs 4 million and Rs 1 lakh from the record separately with five checks.
Archives show that Yusuf Ali received Rs 90 million through financial channels but it is claimed that he received Rs 120 million for settling the case.
After the hearing, Yusuf Ali denied the allegations, saying such allegations were nothing more than rumors.
During the hearing, Justice Khurshid Alam said, “We have heard that the workers’ lawyers had to settle the case unilaterally and the representatives had to settle the case in exchange for cash.”
“There should be no inconsistency in the way the court is used to resolve the issue. The matter will be taken seriously if everything is not in accordance with the law. I demand that there will be no investigation. The credibility of the court and legal advisers should be raised,” he said. . ”
The court found that apart from Bangladesh, there were no legal advisers in the subcontinent, costing Rs 12 crore.
Out of 176 Grameen Telecom employees, 168 have already been paid Rs 3.8 billion.
The payment of salaries of the remaining eight employees is being delayed as four employees have already died and the installments of the additional eight representatives are being postponed as the remaining four are abroad.
Members of the Grameen Telecom Association of Workers and Representatives have filed more than 110 cases against Dr Yunus and his association Grameen Telecom.
A total of 176 workers-employees have filed six cases in 104 high courts seeking payment of Rs 4.37 billion.
The workers and employees of the company are entitled to 5 percent of the net profit of Grameen Telecom as per the rules.
But the company is forcing the workers to file a case in the labor court and the high court for not paying the arrears.
