The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has filed a case against three people, including former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, her sister Sheikh Rehana over the alleged collection of Tk 276.34 crore from the corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds of 41 scheduled banks.
The money was allegedly collected in the name of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Memorial Trust between 2017 and 2024.
The third accused in the case is former Bangladesh Association of Banks (BAB) president and former chairman of EXIM Bank PLC Nazrul Islam Mazumder.
ACC Secretary Saidur Rahman disclosed the development to reporters at the commission’s Segunbagicha office in Dhaka on Thursday afternoon.
The case was filed with the ACC’s Integrated District Office, Dhaka-1, under Sections 409 and 109 of the Penal Code, 1860, and Section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947.
According to the ACC, the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Memorial Trust was established through a registered deed on 6 September, 1994.
The deed designated Sheikh Hasina as the trust’s lifetime president and Sheikh Rehana as president in her absence.
The commission’s inquiry found that Tk 276,34,50,000 was collected from the CSR funds of 41 scheduled banks in the name of the trust, despite the trust allegedly lacking the necessary approvals from the Department of Social Services and the NGO Affairs Bureau.
The ACC said Nazrul Islam Mazumder, who was then BAB president, brought the matter up under the “miscellaneous” section of an executive committee meeting, although it was not part of the meeting’s original agenda.
According to the inquiry, subsequent executive committee meetings approved allocations from the CSR funds of the 41 banks for the trust.
Following those decisions, letters were sent to the banks requesting funds, and money was subsequently collected from their CSR accounts in favour of the trust, the ACC said.
The commission alleged that the three accused acted in collusion, abused their positions and exerted undue influence to secure the funds from the banks.
Their actions allegedly amounted to criminal breach of trust and resulted in financial losses to the state, according to the case.
The ACC said the alleged offences occurred between 2017 and 2024.
