Putul sued on fraud, embezzlement charges

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has filed two separate cases against Saima Wazed Putul, World Health Organization regional director for South-East Asia and daughter of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, for submitting false documents to secure the WHO job and misappropriating funds.

ACC Director General and Spokesperson Akthar Hossain confirmed this to the media through a message on Thursday.

 According to the statement of one of the cases, Putul submitted false information in her curriculum vitae during her application for the WHO regional director position in 2023.

She falsely claimed to be an ‘Honorary Specialist/Expert’ at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (now Bangladesh Medical University) from 2022 to 2023, citing expertise in autism spectrum disorder and mental health.

The ACC further alleges that claims of reviewing medical manuals and lecture content were also fabricated.

The other case centres on allegations of misappropriation of funds during Putul's tenure as chairperson of the Shuchona Foundation and the National Advisory Committee.

The ACC alleges that she, in collusion with former Chairman of the Bangladesh Association of Banks Nazrul Islam Mazumder, pressured member banks to contribute Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds to the foundation.

As a result, a total of 20 banks were allegedly forced to pay Tk33.05 crore to the Shuchona Foundation.

However, the ACC did not find any record regarding the expenditure of the funds during its inquiry. The foundation also did not respond to any letters sent by the national anti-graft agency.

The ACC suspects that the funds were misappropriated by preparing fake documents.

In the case, Nazrul Islam was also made accused.

On 4 March, a court in Dhaka ordered that 14 bank accounts of Shuchona Foundation be frozen. The balance in the accounts was Tk48.35 crore.

Earlier, the ACC sued Putul, Sheikh Hasina and 14 others on charges of corruption and abuse of power in the allocation of 60-katha plots in the Purbachal New Town Project.

Besides, a Dhaka court recently ordered the freezing of 31 additional bank accounts belonging to Sheikh Hasina, her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy, daughter Putul and sister Sheikh Rehana in connection with ongoing graft allegations.

The frozen accounts contain a combined total of Tk394.60 crore,