Bangladesh's Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus says his companies 'forcefully' taken from him amid legal battles

Bangladesh’s Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Muhammad Yunus, claimed that unidentified individuals had forcibly taken control of several of his enterprises. This development comes in the wake of his recent conviction for breaching national labor regulations. Speaking at a press briefing, Yunus revealed the incident, refraining from elaborating on the perpetrators. The Dhaka court’s recent ruling mandated Yunus to settle a $4.5 million tax liability to the National Board of Revenue (NBR). This decision follows the dismissal of a plea by officials from Grameen Telecom Trust, an organization established by the economist, requesting permission to deposit only a fraction of the owed sum. The court’s verdict adds to the legal woes Yunus faces, including allegations of tax evasion and mismanagement of funds, with critics attributing many cases to harassment. Despite his global acclaim for pioneering microfinance, Yunus’s relationship with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina remains strained, with accusations of exploiting the impoverished. In response to the mounting legal challenges, over 100 world leaders and fellow laureates have called on the Bangladeshi government to halt its actions against Yunus. Last September, Amnesty International condemned the criminal charges, labeling them a politically motivated misuse of the justice system. Muhammad Yunus, a revered figure in Bangladesh, earned the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his groundbreaking work in microcredit and microfinance through Grameen Bank, providing financial opportunities to the underprivileged. With inputs from AFP