The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has filed a case against former MP Professor Dr. Abu Reza Muhammad Nezamuddin Nadvi and his wife Rizia Sultana, along with 16 others, on charges of embezzling about Tk 128 million from the IIUC Tower under the International Islamic University Chittagong (IIUC) Trust.
Deputy Director of the ACC's Chittagong office Subel Ahmed confirmed that the case was filed by Deputy Assistant Director Kamal Chakraborty on Thursday.
Former MP and former chairman of the IIUC Trust, Professor Dr. Abu Reza Nadvi, has been named as the main accused in the case. Apart from this, the list of accused includes - former Vice-Chancellor of IIUC Professor Anwarul Azim Arif, former member of the trust Professor Dr. Kazi Din Mohammad, Professor Dr. Mohammad Saleh Zahur, Dr. Engineer Rashid Ahmed Chowdhury, Nadvi's wife Rizia Sultana, and Mohammad Khaled Mahmud.
On the other hand, the case also includes—Professor Dr. Md. Fasiul Alam, Professor Md. Abdur Rahim, Dr. Md. Shamsuzzaman, Mohammad Badiul Alam, Professor Dr. Mohammad Humayun Kabir, Muhammad Shafiur Rahman, Professor Dr. Mahi Uddin, Professor Afzal Ahmed and Dr. Muzaffar Hossain Nadvi.
The ACC statement said that from March 6, 2021 to July 31, 2024, the accused conspired to embezzle Tk 127.941 crore from the IIUC Trust. The trust is a non-profit and charitable organization, the income of which is supposed to be spent on scholarships, assistance to poor students, Islamic research and social welfare work. But the accused have used this money for their own benefit, ignoring the trust law and rules, the complaint states.
According to the ACC investigation, in 2005, the trust purchased a plot in the Agrabad area of Chittagong and built a 15-storey commercial building ‘IIUC Tower’ there with the help of Islamic Development Bank. The building started commercial activities from October 2011.
Although the trust members are supposed to work as volunteers, the ACC said that they have taken honorarium, bonus, TA/DA, mobile bill and festival allowance illegally. According to the complaint, Dr. Nadvi used to take honorarium of 10 lakh 9 thousand taka per month, 50 thousand for fuel and 7 thousand for mobile bill. In addition, he used to get festival allowance of 6 lakh 22 thousand taka every Eid.
His wife Rizia Sultana used to get honorarium of 2 lakh 70 thousand taka per month and mobile bill of 3 thousand taka from the tower. The ACC investigation also revealed that Tk 3 million was sent from the Tower Fund for him during his treatment in Dubai. The complaint also mentions that other members of the trust have also received allowances and benefits illegally. Even from July 2022 to December 2023, no income from IIUC Tower was shown in the university's accounts.
The ACC said that money worth about four hundred thousand US dollars was sent to Saudi Arabia from the Tower's Islamic Bank account without the permission of the Chancellor, which is a clear violation of Section 44(6) of the Private Universities Act, 2010.
IIUC officials said that the Tower generates an average of about Tk 9 million per month, which is supposed to be spent for the welfare of the university and students. But they allege that in three years, about Tk 320 million has been wasted in this way.
The ACC said that the case has been filed based on sufficient evidence and if the investigation proves the involvement of anyone else, action will be taken against them as well.
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