Grameen Bank counsel sharpens barbs against Prof Yunus

Grameen Bank’s Chief Legal Adviser Masud Akhter yesterday said Nobel Laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus deceived 1.05 crore members of the bank and misappropriated their money, a claim Prof Yunus’s lawyer vehemently denied.

“He is talking about curses. He has deceived 1.05 crore members of Grameen Bank. He has used and misappropriated their money for personal gains. Their curse has fallen upon him,” he told reporters at a press briefing on the Supreme Court premises.

At a separate press briefing later in the day at the same place, Prof Yunus’s lawyer Abdullah-Al-Mamun said there is no scope for embezzling Grameen Bank depositors’ money under the rules of the Grameen Bank Ordinance, 1983, under which the bank was established.

The developments come after Grameen Bank went to the Anti-Corruption Commission, accusing the Packages Corporation Limited owners, including Prof Yunus, of taking financial benefits from Grameen Bank.

The two lawyers appeared before the media and made statements after Prof Yunus on Sunday commented that appearing in the iron cage in connection with a case is part of his cursed life.

Yesterday, Masud told reporters that when Prof Yunus was the managing director of Grameen Bank, he gave a loan to Packages Corporation Limited, owned by Prof Yunus and his family, and waived the interest of the loan in violation of the law.

He said Yunus Centre in an explanation presented “false information” about the establishment of Grameen Bank.

“A research project on microcredit was undertaken by Chattogram University under the leadership of Dr Muhammad Yunus in 1976 when he was a teacher at the economics department. The project was financed by the Chattogram University and it was participated by its students under the leadership of Dr Yunus.

“The agriculture ministry named the project as Grameen Bank Project and sent it to Bangladesh Bank. The government gave Tk 100 crore to the project for eliminating poverty in fiscal year 1978-1979. Dr Muhammad Yunus was appointed as a salaried project director. The project was turned into Grameen Bank in 1983 under the leadership of Prof Yunus,” Masud said.

Not a single word in the Grameen Bank’s complaint submitted to the ACC is fabricated, he said, adding, “If the allegations are false and if he is innocent, let him prove it in court.”

Prof Yunus’s lawyer Abdullah-Al-Mamun denounced the accusations, saying a vested quarter is jealous of his client’s global outreach and popularity.

Prof Yunus has made great sacrifices for Grameen Bank, he said.

Replying to Masud’s accusation, he said the lawyer made the statement in such a manner as if Grameen Bank created Prof Yunus.

“It is as if the son was born before the father. The microcredit project created by Muhammad Yunus under the Grameen Bank Ordinance, 1983, was named as Grameen Bank Project.  Prof Yunus applied to the government to turn the project into a complete bank. The government directed him to give all his properties and capital to Grameen Bank and accordingly he did everything under section 37(1) of the Grameen Bank,” he said.

At a press release earlier on May 30, Yunus Centre said the allegations that Prof Yunus and his family financially benefited from the loan given to Packages Corporation Limited is totally false.

The owners of Packages Corporation, including Prof Yunus and his family, offered to give the printing press for the use of Grameen Bank without any financial benefits, it said.

“The bilateral agreement signed between Grameen Bank and Packages Corporation makes it very clear that owners of Packages would not take any kind of financial benefits from Grameen Bank, such as, share of profit, rent on the land, building and machinery, any fee of any kind during the tenure of the management contract with Grameen Bank,” said the press release.

It said the objective of Grameen Bank was to reduce the cost of printing materials of Grameen Bank, ensure quality printing and timely delivery of all printing materials. Owners just literally handed over the printing plant to Grameen Bank free of cost, it added.

“Packages Corporation received working capital loans from Grameen Bank through its donor-funded window called SVCF (Social Venture Capital Fund). This loan money cannot reach the owners of the Packages Corporation under the Agreement. And it did not.”

It said Grameen Bank’s price fixing committee used to work strictly on pricing. The price fixed by the committee was always much lower than the market price.

The release further said the total loan received by Packages Corporation over a period of 25 years was less than Tk 10 crore. These are internal financial transactions within Grameen Bank network of projects and companies. Any loan given to Packages has no way to reach the owners as per the agreement.

“It will remain within the Grameen Bank system — between Grameen Bank and its project, or a social business company designated by Grameen Bank.”

Whatever arrangement Grameen Bank made with Packages Corporation, it was made by Grameen Bank authorities. In several board meetings of Grameen Bank, the issues related to the contract were discussed. The board enthusiastically cooperated in the implementation of the agreement, said the  release.