In the shadow of Bangladesh’s 2024 political upheaval, where the ouster of the Awami League government gave way to an interim administration led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, a sinister narrative of corruption and embezzlement has unfolded.
Far from delivering the promised transparent, reform-driven governance, the Yunus-led regime—bolstered by a coterie of advisers—has plunged the nation into a cesspool of financial malfeasance, with every adviser, including Yunus himself, implicated in plundering public coffers.
While the interim government points fingers at the Awami League, accusing it of fantastical sums of money laundering, recent revelations, particularly from the daily Kaler Kantho’s exposé on the “MP Project” scandal, paint a damning picture of systemic graft under Yunus’ watch. This story unravels the sordid tale of greed, favouritism, and betrayal of Bangladesh’s people, set against a backdrop of economic collapse and institutional decay.
The MP Project: A Case Study in Greed
At the heart of the scandal lies the “Universal Social Infrastructure Development-2” project, colloquially known as the MP Project, initiated under the Awami League to fund local development through parliamentary oversight. Approved in 2022 with a budget of Tk1,820 million, it aimed to empower MPs to drive social infrastructure like schools and roads in their constituencies.
But after the interim government assumed power in August 2024, following a chaotic, army-backed coup fueled by student protests, the project’s trajectory took a grotesque turn. Despite the dissolution of parliament and the absence of MPs, the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) proposed a staggering 39% cost increase—Tk418 million more, ballooning the total to Tk1,500 million—extending the timeline from 2026 to June 2027.
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The daily Kaler Kantho’s investigation, published in October 2025, exposed this as a flagrant act of embezzlement. The project, 64% complete with Tk700 crore already spent, was meant to wrap up quickly, with only ongoing works to be finalised and untendered packages cancelled.
Yet, LGED’s proposal defied logic: why inflate costs for a project on the brink of closure, in a country with no MPs? The answer lies in a web of greed spun by Yunus’ advisers, who saw the project as a cash cow. Chittagong district received a disproportionate Tk515 million allocation, while Meherpur got a paltry Tk50 million, raising red flags at the Planning Commission.
Former project director Nazmul Karim’s weak justification—“local needs”—crumbled under scrutiny, as no coherent policy or need assessment supported the hike. The Planning Commission’s senior official said: “It was decided to complete the project at Tk700 crore. The sudden change smells of corruption.” This brazen cost escalation, unsupported by progress or necessity, reeks of funds siphoned off to loyalists under the guise of “development.”
A Regime Built on Hypocrisy
The MP Project is but one thread in a tapestry of corruption woven by Yunus and his inner circle. While the interim government loudly accuses the Awami League of laundering “unrealistic” sums—claims often inflated to demonise Hasina’s legacy—it orchestrates its own plunder with impunity.
Take the health sector, where Adviser Nurjahan Begum, a Yunus loyalist with no credible expertise, presides over a crumbling system. The cancellation of 38 five-year operational plans (OPs) since 1998 has paralysed healthcare, leaving 25,000 workers unpaid, community clinics shuttered, and essential medicines scarce. Nurjahan’s personal officers, Dr. Mahmudul Hassan and Tuhin Farabi, stand accused of embezzling crores through bribes for doctor transfers—Tk1.5-2.5 million per medical college principal post, Tk200,000 for nurses. Hassan, now in Russia with smuggled funds, and Farabi exemplify the rot, yet Nurjahan remains defiant, touting vague “reforms” while hospitals falter.
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The media sector is equally tainted. On October 8, 2025, the daily Kaler Kantho reported the interim government’s partisan granting of TV licenses to National Citizen Party (NCP) affiliates Arifur Rahman Tuhin and Arifur Rahman for Next Television and Live TV. This favouritism, bypassing the Media Reform Commission’s call for an independent licensing body, mocks Yunus’ anti-corruption rhetoric.
Meanwhile, 878 journalists have faced harassment since August 2024, with 292 entangled in false cases, 39 arrested, and 10 killed, per the Rights and Risks Analysis Group (RRAG). The revocation of 285 accreditation cards and mob attacks on newspaper and TV channel offices reveal a regime weaponising censorship while rewarding cronies.
Perhaps the most audacious scandal involves the “36 July” flat project, intended to house families of “July martyrs” from the 2024 protests. The daily Janakantha’s July 27, 2025, report uncovered grotesque overestimations: RCC boundary walls, worth Tk900 per unit, were budgeted at Tk40,000—45 times the market rate.
Lifts, substations, and water pumps were inflated up to five times, with the project’s Tk762 crore cost for 804 flats in Mirpur reeking of fraud. No master plan or ownership policy exists, yet Adviser Adilur Rahman Khan pushes for swift ECNEC approval, signalling a rush to pocket funds before scrutiny tightens. The inclusion of 200 fake martyrs and 1,500 fake injuries on official lists further exposes the regime’s callous exploitation of tragedy for profit.
Yunus’ Grameen Empire: A Personal Fiefdom
At the apex of this corruption sits Yunus himself, whose Grameen empire has flourished amid national ruin. The Daily Republic’s October 17, 2025, report details how Yunus’ enterprises—Grameen Kalyan, Grameen Bank, Grameen Telecom—have reaped obscene benefits. Grameen Kalyan dodged Tk666 crore ($54.8 million) in taxes after a High Court ruling was mysteriously reversed.
Grameen Bank secured a five-year tax exemption until 2029, covering all income streams. A draft ordinance slashing government oversight from 25% to 5% ensures Yunus loyalists dominate the bank’s board. Legal cases against Yunus—labour violations, corruption, even yoghurt adulteration—were quashed or withdrawn post-August 2024, with the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) bending to his will. Grameen Employment Services and Samadhan Services snagged exclusive licenses for overseas employment and digital wallets, respectively, cementing Yunus’ financial stranglehold.
Nepotism runs rampant. Nurjahan Begum’s health portfolio, Lamiya Morshed’s SDG coordinator role, and Apurba Jahangir’s deputy press secretary post—all tied to Grameen—show Yunus rewarding loyalty over merit.
The Daily Republic’s op-ed by Aminul Hoque Polash nails it: Yunus uses subordinates like Nurjahan as “scapegoats,” signing off on corrupt deals while he feigns innocence. His claim at the UN that students were his “employers” and Mahfuj Alam the “mastermind” of the July-August coup is a masterclass in deflection, shielding him from accountability for the ensuing chaos.
Mob Rule and Extortion: The Gulshan Scandal
The interim government’s reliance on mob violence to enforce its will is chillingly illustrated by the Gulshan scandal. On August 14, 2025, newspapers reported Adviser Asif Mahmud’s orchestration of a student mob to extort Tk1 crore from former Awami League MP Shammi Ahmed’s husband, Abu Zafar.
CCTV footage captured Bangladesh Democratic Students’ Union (BDSU) members Jane Alam Apu and Abdur Razzak bin Sulaiman Riyad collecting Tk10 lakh after a failed raid on Shammi’s home. Apu’s video confession, recorded while evading arrest, implicates Mahmud, who met the mob incognito near Hotel Westin. Riyad’s arrest with four others exposed NCP leaders like Nahid Islam as patrons of extortionists, yet Mahmud remains untouchable, a stark symbol of the regime’s impunity.
The Blame Game: Deflecting from Their Sins
While Yunus and his advisers plunder, they accuse the Awami League of fictitious money-laundering schemes to deflect scrutiny. Sheikh Hasina, from exile, has condemned this hypocrisy, vowing to bring Yunus, BNP, and Jamaat to justice. The ACC’s harassment of NBR officials and acquittals of BNP’s Tarique Rahman underscore a regime that weaponises institutions to protect allies while vilifying opponents.
Transparency International Bangladesh’s Dr. Iftekharuzzaman laments, “The government had an opportunity for transparent reform but perpetuates authoritarian practices.” The Media Reform Commission’s ignored recommendations and the health sector’s collapse—where maternal and child mortality rates climb as clinics shutter—prove this betrayal.
A Nation Betrayed
As Bangladesh reels from hyperinflation, factory closures, and over 1,000 deaths since August 2024, the Yunus regime’s corruption festers like an open wound. The MP Project’s inflated costs, media crackdowns, health sector chaos, and Grameen’s windfalls reveal a government not of reform but of rapacity.
Every adviser, from Nurjahan’s bribe-riddled health ministry to Mahmud’s mob-driven extortion, is complicit. Yunus, once a global icon, now stands as the architect of a kleptocracy, his Nobel sheen tarnished by greed. The people of Bangladesh, queuing for TCB rations as famine looms, deserve better. History will judge this interim regime not by its promises but by its plunder—a tragic chapter in a nation’s struggle for justice.
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