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Published : 20 Mar 2025, 07:42 PM
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has filed two additional cases against Saima Wazed Putul, the daughter of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
The cases allege “corruption and fraud” related to her work with a nonprofit organisation and her appointment to a senior position at the World Health Organization (WHO).
The charges, filed by ACC Deputy Director Tahasin Monabil Haque at the Integrated District Office Dhaka-1 on Thursday, follow an earlier case accusing Putul of illegally acquiring a plot in Purbachal by “misrepresenting information and abusing power”.
Putul is accused of using improper influence to secure Tk 335 million from the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds of private banks for the Shuchona Foundation, a nonprofit she previously chaired that focuses on mental health and neurological disorders.
The ACC alleges that the funds were obtained illegally through undue pressure on banks, with the assistance of Nazrul Islam Mazumder, a private banking executive and chairman of NASSA Group.
According to the ACC, 20 banks were "forced" to contribute to the foundation in May 2017, and investigators were unable to verify how the funds were used.
The agency said it found no operational records of the foundation, raising concerns that the money may have been misappropriated.
The second case accuses Putul of “fraud and forgery” in securing her appointment as the WHO’s Regional Director for Southeast Asia.
According to the ACC, she submitted a curriculum vitae to WHO in 2023 that falsely claimed she had been involved in educational and technical work at the then-Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University.
The commission contends that the allegedly fabricated credentials helped her obtain the high-ranking role.
The ACC has charged Putul and Mazumder under multiple sections of Bangladesh’s Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947.
The commission had previously noted that Putul held Canadian citizenship at the time of her WHO nomination and has urged Bangladesh’s foreign ministry to take steps to remove her from the organisation’s regional office in India.
