ACC Approves Chargesheet Against Saima Wazed over Allegations of Securing WHO Post with False Information on CV

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has approved the filing of a chargesheet against Saima Wazed over allegations that she gave false information in her curriculum vitae (CV) to obtain appointment as Regional Director for South-East Asia of the World Health Organization (WHO). Saima Wazed is the daughter of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

ACC Secretary Md. Saidur Rahman Khan announced the approval of the chargesheet against Saima Wazed at a briefing on Sunday. As a result, the way has now been created for the case to move towards trial proceedings in court.

The ACC alleges that in the CV submitted to obtain appointment to that WHO post, Saima Wazed gave false and fabricated information about working as an 'honorary specialist/expert' at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (now Bangladesh Medical University). It is alleged in the complaint that she obtained appointment as a regional director of the organisation by using that information.

The ACC's FIR states that when Saima Wazed applied to the WHO in 2023, she claimed to have experience of teaching at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University and of taking part in work relating to preparing or reviewing education manuals. Yet the ACC has alleged that she did not take part in these activities.

The FIR further states that in 2017, Saima Wazed was appointed chairperson of the National Advisory Committee on Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders through the Health Services Division of the Ministry of Health. While holding that responsibility, she mentioned this information about her experience in her CV. The ACC alleges that by giving false information and abusing power, she obtained appointment as a regional director of the WHO.

The ACC investigation states that pressure was applied through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to advance the recruitment process on the basis of the information given in the CV. Later, this information was sent to the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, through Bangladesh's permanent mission, the United Nations office and other international organisations. According to the ACC's allegation, it was in this context that Saima Wazed obtained appointment to the post.

According to the ACC's allegations, by giving false information in the CV and through abuse of power, Saima Wazed has damaged the state's reputation. That is, the allegation is not limited to personal irregularity alone; the question of the country's image being harmed in the international arena has also been raised.

In this case, charges of punishable offences have been brought against her under sections 420, 468 and 471 of the Penal Code and section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947. Allegations relating to false information, forgery and abuse of power will be tried under these sections.

This is not the ACC's first step against Saima Wazed. Earlier, on 20 March 2025, the ACC filed two separate cases against her - over allegations of taking a job at the WHO by giving false information, and of extorting 33 crore taka from 20 banks by applying pressure in the name of Suchona Foundation.

It was in continuation of the investigations of those cases that the approval has now come to file a chargesheet over the allegation of false information in the CV. With the chargesheet approved at the end of the investigation stage, the case is now entering the next legal step.

The matter carries greater importance because the allegation centres on the recruitment process for a top-level post at an international organisation. As questions have been raised about the veracity of information given in the appointment to a post such as a WHO regional director, the incident has drawn attention at home and abroad.

Now it is the turn for the chargesheet to be filed in court. If the court accepts the chargesheet, the formalities of the trial process will begin, and it is there that the truth of the allegations will be verified.

All in all, this ACC decision has added a new dimension to the ongoing legal process surrounding Saima Wazed. All eyes will now be on the case's further progress and the court's decision.