Grameen Bank MD of Grameen Bank Doctor Muhammad Yunus has welcomed the prime minister's call for an investigation into allegations that he channelled foreign aid meant for the bank to another company.
Yunus in a brief, written statement said: "Honourable prime minister Sheikh Hasina said the issue on Grameen Bank, which was discussed in several newspapers, should be investigated. I welcome the attempt of the honourable prime minister.
"I hope that the debate will be over after revealing the exact condition in front of countrymen following the investigation as soon as possible," said the statement of the Nobel Peace laureate.
It was signed by the general manager of the bank Mohammad Shahjahan, and sent on Sunday night. It was said that Yunus sent this statement fromPortugal capital, Lisbon.
The response from Yunus came hours after Hasina said earlier in the day, "The allegation against Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus...should be investigated properly."
"Bangladesh has set many examples. Deceiving people by siphoning off their money is another such example. This is nothing but sucking out money from the people after giving them loans," she said when her attention was drawn to the conflicting comments made by her party stalwarts.
"One can't but get caught if they play with the money of the poor," she added.
Norway's national TV NRK aired a documentary on November 30 titled "Fanget i Mikrogjeld" or "Caught in Micro debt", based on which bdnews24.com ran a report on December 1.
According to the documentary, Yunus transferred the money to Grameen Kalyan, which was in no way involved with microcredit operations.
Responding to the allegations, Grameen Bank claimed there was no wrongdoing in the agreement between the bank and Grameen Kalyan under which it received Tk 3,917 million from the bank.
