Dhaka, Aug 7 - The National Board of Revenue will submit a report this month on how much money Muhammad Yunus brought in, if any, from abroad as a wage earner during his stint as the Managing Director of Grameen Bank. "We have already started work. We will submit the report to the Cabinet this month following instruction," NBR Chairman Nasiruddin Ahmed told bdnews24.com on Tuesday adding that they had started work even before receiving an official order.
The order for a fresh investigation into the activities and financial transactions of Muhammad Yunus in his later years as MD of Grameen Bank came from a meeting of the Cabinet on Thursday.
The National Board of Revenue was asked to submit a report on whether the Nobel Peace laureate brought in any money from abroad as a wage earner and if so, if he was allowed to do so and whether he got any tax waiver on the amount.
The Cabinet Division on Monday sent an official letter to the NBR conveying the Cabinet decision. The Chairman then ordered two NBR members to take the necessary steps. The revenue watchdog is also collecting tax related information about the associate organisations of Grameen Bank.
After the Cabinet meeting, Cabinet Secretary Md Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan said that the NBR would make the report with the help of Bangladesh Bank.
The cabinet also asked the Bank and Financial Institutions Division of the Ministry of Finance to look into whether his continuing in the office beyond the mandated age of 60 was lawful or not, how much money he took during that time and whether it was legal.
The Cabinet meeting led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also approved the proposal for amending the Grameen Bank Ordinance 1983 to reduce the power of the bank's board, which the Nobel laureate sees as nothing but a takeover bid.
Chief executive since Grameen was founded originally with government support and ownership in 1983 through a martial law ordinance, Yunus was questioned by the central bank for continuing in his job far beyond the retirement age for any executive in any such institution in Bangladesh. He was nearly 71 when the Bangladesh Bank gave the notice in March 2011.
He went to the court and lost a series of legal battles, finally in the Supreme Court, eventually losing his hold on the institution he is credited with building in 1970s.
Following his removal, the government refused to bow down to pressure from US and international donor organisations to reappoint Yunus. It also ruled out a proposal to form a committee, led by Yunus, to look for a new Managing Director. Currently, the bank's Deputy Managing Director Mohammad Shahjahan is standing in for the MD.
In 2006, Yunus shared the Nobel Peace Prize with the Grameen Bank for their initiative to provide micro-credit for poverty alleviation.
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