The chairman, vice-chairman, and member secretary of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of Bangladesh Islami University siphoned off Tk 6.13 crore as an honorarium over 11 years from the university fund.
The BIU’s BoT Chairman, Professor Kamal Uddin Abdullah Jafree, alone took Tk 3.66 crore as monthly honorarium and vehicle facilities over this period, the probe committee of the University Grants Commission (UGC) discovered.
The probe report stated that the founders of the university established it for the sake of people’s welfare, as a non-profit institution, and in the spirit of Islam. They invested only Tk 1.56 crore initially and took a loan of Tk 10 crore from banks for buying land, but spent only Tk 3 crore on the actual land purchase.
This is a recent example of financial irregularities in private universities. However, a significant number of private universities are still plagued by financial corruption.
According to Section 45 of the Private University Act 2010, each university must submit the previous year's financial report to the UGC after evaluation by a firm appointed by the government from the list of external audit firms (CA firms) approved by Bangladesh Bank.
However, only 57 private universities submitted their reports in 2022, down from 61 in 2021.
UGC officials said that universities consistently show reluctance to submit their financial and audit reports, as the authorities concerned have yet to take any punitive action against them.
Professor Dr Siddiqur Rahman, former director of the Institute of Education and Research at Dhaka University, told The Business Post that many founders established private universities for their own benefit, viewing them as another business venture. They have forgotten that private universities are meant to be non-profit institutions.
“It is already late. The UGC should take stern action against all the irregularities at private universities,” he said.
Cases of financial irregularities by BoTs
The High Court sent four members of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of North South University (NSU) into police custody for a money laundering case in July 2022, rejecting their anticipatory bail petitions due to the gravity of the offence.
On May 5, 2022, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) sued the NSU BoT Chairman Azim Uddin Ahmed and five others for embezzling Tk 303.82 crore under the guise of buying land for the campus.
According to the Private University Act 2010, the Board of Trustees is the highest governing body of a private university like NSU.
The university's Memorandum of Association and Articles (Rules and Regulations) state that it is a charitable, welfare-oriented, non-commercial, and non-profit educational institution.
The case documents reveal that over 9,088 decimals of land were bought in the name of NSU's campus development with the consent of some BoT members, bypassing the approval of the university syndicate, the University Grants Commission (UGC), and the education ministry.
They later withdrew cash from the buyer through cheques in their own names and kept the fixed deposit receipts (FDR) in their own names.
They unjustly benefited from these illegal activities through the misuse of power and the embezzlement of university and government funds, according to the case documents.
In carrying out such illegal activities, they committed a punishable offence by resorting to fraud, forgery, and exchanging commissions, it added.
The Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) arrested Dhaka University Institute of Business Administration (IBA) Professor Abu Yousuf Md Abdullah over a fraud case filed by a land developer company in 2022.
Saiful Islam Bhuiayn, deputy managing director of Ashiyan Lands Development, filed a fraud case with Khilgaon Police Station over land procurement in 2013.
The lawsuit mentioned that Abu Yousuf Md Abdullah had purchased five bighas of land for building the Northern University of Bangladesh's permanent campus at the Ashiyan City project in the capital's Dakkhinkhan area in 2013.
"However, they paid us Tk 30 crore on August 3, 2013, and were bound to pay the remaining Tk 20 crore by August 30 of that year.
But they could not pay the money till the date. And also claimed that they had paid us the full amount whenever we claimed the due payment," the plaintiff mentioned in the case.
"They also forged our Chairman Nazrul Islam Bhuiyan's signature and claimed that we had registered the land in their name. But the claim was false and fabricated," the FIR reads.
UGC targets private university irregularities
The University Grants Commission (UGC) has decided to investigate the financial transactions of all private universities since their establishment in the wake of allegations of financial and administrative irregularities. The commission will examine the income, expenditure, and financial contributions of trustees.
The UGC sent letters to more than 26 private universities in 2022, seeking all documents on their current and previous financial reports. However, it received reports from only some universities, including North South University (NSU) and the European University of Bangladesh (EUB).
A significant number of universities did not submit their reports as directed by the UGC.
Professor Dr Biswajit Chanda, a member of the UGC, told The Business Post that they would take stern action against some universities shortly.
“Private universities are not-for-profit institutions. No BoT members have the right to take a salary or honorarium from the university. We will take action against all financial irregularities,” he said.
"Many universities have no offices, students, teachers, or even campuses. Many are involved in financial irregularities. So, we have decided to examine the income and expenditure accounts of these universities since their establishment. If we find any irregularities, we will send our findings to the chancellor for appropriate action," he continued.
"In many cases, trustees took large amounts of money from the universities – often more than their initial investments. We will identify them and take action. No reputed institution will face problems regarding their trustees or others," Professor Biswajit Chanda added.
