Court Correspondent :
The Senior Special Judge Court of Dhaka yesterday (Monday) directed the authorities to send four trustees of North South University (NSU) to the jail in a graft case involving embezzlement of funds and money laundering.
The four trustees are MA Kashem, Benajir Ahmed, Rehana Rahman and Mohammed Shajahan.
Judge KM Imrul Kayesh of the court on Monday issued the order after ACC Deputy Director Farid Ahmed Patwary produced the accused in the court.
The court asked ACC Investigation Officer to interrogate four NSU trustees at the gate of the jail.
Representing the ACC, Farid Ahmed Patwary, and also Investigation Officer in the case, argued that NSU trustees are directly involved in embezzlement of university fund and money laundering and they need to be interrogated while the court accepted the plea.
The defense counsels prayed to the court to grant first class division to the accused in the jail considering their social status. Hearing the defense plea, the court directed the jail authorities to take necessary step as per the Jail Code.
Advocates Mosharraf Hossain Kajol, Mir Ahmed Ali Salam and Mahmud Hossain Selim appeared on behalf of the ACC while Advocate Shahinur Islam stood for the accused.
On May 5, the ACC filed the case against NSU trustee board Chairman Azim Uddin Ahmed, four members Benajir Ahmed, MA Kashem, Rehana Rahman and Mohammed Shajahan, and Ashaloy Housing and Developers Limited Managing Director Amin Md Hilaly for embezzling Tk 303.82 crore of the university.
The accused allegedly misappropriated the money in the name of purchasing 9,096.88 decimals of land in Rupganj of Narayanganj district in connivance with one another.
According to the case statement, the accused bought land at a low price but provided a much higher estimate to the university authorities with ‘nefarious intention’ of embezzling the excess money. Initially, they paid the money to the seller, which was then withdrawn by their associates using bank cheque. The funds were then transferred to the accused people, who parked the money in fixed deposit accounts.
The accused in the case have also been charged with several offences relating to criminal misconduct and breach of trust under the Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act 1947.
Earlier, the ACC conducted investigation into the graft allegations against the NSU trustees following a complaint filed by Dr Sufi Sagar Sams, Adviser of the Protection for Legal and Human Rights Foundation.
Out of the six accused, the four NSU trustees moved to the High Court with a plea to seek anticipatory bail in the case.
Police on Sunday arrested four NSU trustees after the High Court rejected their bail petitions in the case.
Rejecting their anticipatory bail petitions, the apex court asked police to arrest the accused petitioners and produce them before the lower court within 24 hours. Soon after the court order, police arrested the four NSU trustees in the courtroom.
The High Court Division bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Kazi Md Ejarul Haque Akondo rejected the bail pleas of the accused on Sunday.
The apex court took a clear stand and decided that there is no scope to show compassion to the persons involved in fund embezzlement and money laundering which are prejudicial to the whole country.
It may be remembered that the Board of Trustees is the highest governing body of NSU under the Private Universities Act 2010. According to its memorandum and articles of association, the university is a charitable, welfare-oriented, non-commercial and non-profit educational institution.
