According to the Press Institute of Bangladesh (PIB) Act-2018, the work of PIB, an autonomous institution under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, is mainly to conduct research on journalism, publish, and provide training to journalists nationwide for professional development. In addition, PIB is also responsible for providing advisory and consultancy services to newspapers, news agencies, radio, television, information centers, and media organizations.

But this same institution has been accused of showing fake seminars and using fake signatures of journalists to show expenses of around 2.4 million taka.

On the occasion of ‘Tarunyar Utsab 2025’, huge expenses were shown in the name of four programs on February 18 and 19 last year at PIB. Daily Kaler Kantho collected the bills and vouchers prepared by PIB against these programs. Going through the documents, it is seen that the expenditure details of the four programs are given as follows:

The first is a music evening on the occasion of ‘Tarunyar Utsav 2025’. The document states that it was dated 18-19 February 2025, and the venue was PIB Auditorium. The total cost is shown as 5 lakh 73 thousand taka.

The second program is ‘July Uprising Film, Photography, Graffiti and Video Exhibition’. Date is 18-19 February 2025. The total cost is shown as 4 lakh 67 thousand 500 taka.

The third seminar is titled ‘July Mass Uprising: Solidarity and Hope’. Date is February 18, 2025. The total cost is shown as 6 lakh 91 thousand 500 taka. Out of this, 200 participants will have an allowance of 1 thousand taka each, for a total of 2 lakh taka.

The list mentions that the participants will be given folders, pens and notebooks in the box titled ‘Receipt of Training Materials’ along with the allowance. A revenue stamp of 10 taka has also been affixed in the box of each receipt.

In addition, the travel allowance of 50 participants from outside Dhaka is shown at 2,000 taka each, for a total of 100,000 taka. The honorarium of five discussants is 10,000 taka each, for a total of 50,000 taka. 250 packets of breakfast are shown at 200 taka each, for a total of 50,000 taka, and 250 packets of lunch are shown at 500 taka each, for a total of 125,000 taka. The remaining expenses are shown in various sectors, including decoration.

The fourth program is a seminar titled ‘Direction and Philosophy of Mass Uprising’. Date is February 19, 2025. The total cost is shown as 6 lakh 65 thousand 500 taka. Here too, the allowance of 200 participants is shown as 1 thousand taka and 2 lakh taka. The list also mentions providing folders, pens and notebooks to the participants and a revenue stamp of 10 taka is affixed next to each name.

Apart from this, the travel allowance of 25 participants from outside Dhaka is 50,000 taka, the honorarium of five discussants is 10,000 taka, 50,000 taka, 250 packets of breakfast are 200 taka, 50,000 taka, and 250 packets of lunch are 500 taka, 125,000 taka. The remaining expenses are shown in other sectors including decoration.

A total of around 24 lakh taka has been shown to be spent on these four events.

According to PIB documents, separate expense accounts have been shown for all four events. About 15 days before the event, the organization’s senior research officer and coordinator, Golam Murshed, personally signed and submitted the expense accounts to the Director General.

Later, Director General Farooq Wasif signed the accounting document on the same day. Then, vouchers were submitted against the expenses of each sector, each page of which had Golam Murshed’s signature.

However, while going through the documents, one name raised suspicions. The list shows ‘S. M. Azad, Kaler Kantho, Dhaka’ who received an allowance of Tk 1,000 for attending the February 19 seminar. However, S. M. Azad, a former senior reporter of Kaler Kantho, left his job in 2022 and moved to Portugal and remained there.

When contacted, he said that he did not attend any PIB seminar last year, so there was no question of receiving the allowance. Recently, when he returned to the country and visited the Kaler Kantho office, he was convinced that the signature on the list was not his.

After investigation, it was found that the PIB billed that a total of 400 participants, 200 each, had been given an allowance of Tk 400,000 in two seminars. When contacted, at least 70 of the journalists on the list said that they were not aware of any such seminar. They also did not acknowledge that the signatures on the list were theirs.

Dhaka Post senior reporter Jasim Uddin Mahir said he did not attend any such seminar and the signature is not his. Daily Star journalist Jamil Khan said he did not know who or what did this using his name.

Daily Janakantha journalist Fazlur Rahman said that his name was used in this way to commit fraud. Khulna journalist Shamsuzzaman Shaheen sent a sample of his signature and said that the signatures on the list were fake and none of the journalists from Khulna whose names are on the list had attended the seminar.

There is also a discrepancy in the list of seminar speakers. There is no teacher named ‘Shahidullah Lipon’ at Chittagong University. However, the nickname of Dr. Mohammad Shahidullah, a professor in the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism, is Lipon.

He said he has not attended any seminar at PIB in the last three-four years. The signature on the document is not his either.

No teacher named ‘Khan Mohammad Bahadur’ was found at Noakhali University of Science and Technology. Dr. Newaz Mohammad Bahadur, a professor in the university’s chemistry department, said he had never attended any PIB event and was not aware of any such seminar.

Checking the vouchers also reveals discrepancies. Two bills have been shown in the name of Al-Amin Art Gallery for binding photographs and graffiti, each for Tk 20,000. But both bills have the same memo number—281.

Employees of the relevant institutions said they do not remember any such major work in the last few years and the handwriting on the bill is not theirs.

Another bill for Tk 20,000 was shown in the name of Sohel Frame Gallery. The owner of the establishment, Md. Sohel Rana, said that the writing on the bill did not match the writing of any of them.

Three vouchers for the decoration, named ‘The New Noor and Co. Decorators’, showed Tk 60,000, Tk 30,000 and Tk 25,000. The store manager said the pad may be theirs, but the writing or signature is not theirs.

Inconsistencies were also found in the food bills. Two bills in the name of Bismillah Restaurant showed 250 lunch packets priced at 500 taka each, for a total of 2.5 lakh taka.

But restaurant employees said that their packet meals usually cost between 150 and 350 taka. They do not have packets of 500 taka here. Also, while their original vouchers are red, the vouchers submitted by PIB are black and white.

The breakfast bill was shown in the name of Hawk Bread and Confectionery. The establishment’s manager said the handwriting on the bill was not theirs and they did not remember such a large order.

Another important point is that while there are many pictures and videos of the programs of that time on the PIB’s Facebook page, there are no pictures or videos of these two seminars with 400 participants. No information about this was found on the website either.

A review of the infrastructure of PIB also raises questions. Building No. 1 has a 238-seat auditorium and a 60-seat seminar room. Building No. 2 has a 60-seat seminar room and two 30-seat classrooms. As a result, there is no space there to organize a seminar with 200 people at once.

A PIB official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that no other seminars were held on those two days during the youth festival.

When asked about the matter, PIB officials initially denied the allegations. However, after presenting documents and evidence to the investigation team, Golam Murshed admitted at one point that he had done all this on the orders of PIB Director General Farooq Wasif.

Regarding the allegations, Farooq Wasif said that a rogue group at the PIB had prepared a fake bill, but he did not approve it and no money was spent in this sector.

He said that he has to sign many files every day, so he cancels one file after signing it and later finds out that it is a fake bill.

However, the investigation revealed that a total of Tk 23 lakh 97 thousand 500 was withdrawn from an account of Sonali Bank’s Viqarunnisa Noon School branch under the name of PIB’s ‘Editor Audit’ through two checks on June 29 and June 30, 2025.

The amounts of the four checks were 691,500 taka, 467,500 taka, 665,500 taka, and 573,000 taka, respectively—which exactly match the bill amounts for the four events.