The High Court today granted bail to MA Kashem and Rehana Rahman, two members of the Board of Trustees of North South University (NSU), in the case of money embezzlement. However, they cannot go out of the country without the permission of the court.
A High Court bench headed by SM Quddus Zaman passed the order on Thursday. Advocate Khurshid Alam Khan appeared on behalf of ACC in court. He informed about the court order. Besides, Advocate Saeed Ahmed Raja was on behalf of the trustees.
On August 2, the High Court issued a ruling seeking to know why MA Kashem and Rehena Rahman, two members of NSU’s Board of Trustees, should not be granted bail in the embezzlement case of Tk 303.82 crore. High Court bench of Justice Md. Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Khizir Hayat issued the ruling.
On May 22, the High Court rejected the bail petition of four members of NSU’s Board of Trustees in the embezzlement case of Tk 303.82 crore. They were handed over to Shahbagh police and asked to appear before the lower court within 24 hours.
The four members of the Board of Trustees are – MA Kashem, Benajir Ahmed, Rehana Rahman and Mohammed Shajahan.
The court said in the order that there is an allegation of embezzlement of Tk 303.82 crore against the petitioner accused. Considering the seriousness of the offence, the petitioning accused “cannot get anticipatory bail”. Moreover, they could not show the court a reasonable, admissible reason for anticipatory bail.
On May 12, the ACC filed a case against six people including the chairman of the board of trustees of the university for embezzling additional expenditure of Tk 303.82 crore for the purchase of land for the North South University campus.
Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) director general Md. Said Mahbub Khan said that ACC deputy director Farid Ahmed Patwari filed this case in Dhaka.
The accused in the case are – NSU Board of trustees chairman Azim Uddin Ahmed, members MA Kashem, Benajir Ahmed, Rehana Rahman and Mohammed Shajahan, and Ashaloy Housing and Developers Limited managing director Amin Md Hilali.
It is said in the case statement: “By bypassing the North South University Syndicate, University Grants Commission (UGC) and the Ministry of Education, with the approval or consent of some members of the Board of Trustees, 9,096.88 decimal lands has been embezzled by showing the price of Tk 303,82,13,497 more in the name of campus development.”
It is alleged against the accused that they paid the money in the seller’s name first by showing the high price despite buying the land at a low price for the “nefarious purpose of misappropriating” the funds of the university. Later, they withdraw the money from the seller through cash checks in the name of their own people and made an FDR in their own name. Later, they embezzled the money of FDR.