Embezzlement: ACC sues 8 ex-members of NSU board of trustees

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) sued eight former North South University (NSU) trustee board members for misappropriating funds and causing financial losses of Tk 10.47 crore for the university.

ACC Deputy Director Anwarul Haque filed the case on Tuesday with its integrated district office in Dhaka-1 under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

ACC Public Relations Officer Akhtarul Islam confirmed the matter to The Daily Star yesterday.

The accused are -- Benajir Ahmed, 70, MA Kashem, 84, Rehana Rahman, 75, Azim Uddin Ahmed, 83, Md Shajahan, 70, Yasmin Kamal, 70, Fawzia Naz, 61, and Tanveer Harun, 54.

According to the case statement, the accused purchased ten luxury cars for personal use, paying for maintenance and other expenses with university funds rather than using the money for the intended purposes.

Subsequently, NSU authorities sold all the cars for Tk 9.64 crore, while Tk 83.28 lakh from the university fund was lost on fuel costs and drivers' salaries.

Their actions resulted in a loss of Tk 10.47 crore to the university, added the case.

The case statement further alleged that the accused misused their authority to spend the university fund in a planned way, colluding with each other in violation of the Private University Act 2010.

Earlier in May 2022, the ACC sued five members of the NSU trustee board and the managing director of a development company for embezzling Tk 304 crore.

In October 2022, the ACC submitted a charge sheet against Azim Uddin, Benajir Ahmed, MA Kashem, Rehana Rahman, Md Shajahan, Ashaloy Housing and Developers managing director Amin Md Hilaly, its chairman Omar Faruk, and directors Anwara Begum and Syed AK Haque.