2 probe bodies formed over money embezzlement at KU

Khulna University (KU) authorities have formed two investigation committees following allegations that an assistant registrar embezzled around Tk 18 lakh from the Executive MBA (EMBA) programme fund by forging signatures of university officials.

The accused, Assistant Registrar Yusuf Raihan of the Business Administration Discipline, has reportedly gone into hiding after the allegation surfaced.

The incident came to light on Monday when students went to verify their semester registration information and found that their deposited fees had not been recorded.

Confirming the matter, Business Administration Discipline head Professor Dr Md Nur Alam said the assistant registrar withdrew money from the bank by forging signatures of both the discipline head and the course coordinator.

“The embezzled money includes semester fees, examination fees and other funds deposited by students,” he said.

He added that two probe bodies have already been formed to investigate the matter and their work is almost complete. The investigation reports are expected to be submitted to the university administration on Tuesday afternoon, after which legal and administrative actions will be taken.

Students alleged that EMBA students regularly deposited their semester and examination fees through Assistant Registrar Yusuf Raihan.

A student named Jawad said they had always paid fees through Raihan and discovered the irregularity while checking their registration status.

“We found that our fees had not been deposited and our courses were not shown as completed,” he said.

Another student, Soumen, said they never imagined the official entrusted with collecting fees would misappropriate the money.

Course Coordinator Professor SM Jahidur Rahman said the money had been withdrawn from the bank through forged cheques bearing fake signatures.

Following the allegations, Yusuf Raihan has remained absent from his workplace. Repeated attempts to contact him over phone failed as his mobile phone was found switched off.

SMS/AM