Yunus Denies Development Aid Misuse

The father of microfinance, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and folk hero Muhammad Yunus, has been accused of misusing development aid — a claim he says is “a total fabrication.” What made Yunus famous was his idea to offer tiny loans to the poor so that they could start their own businesses and, in doing so, escape poverty. Upon winning the Nobel Prize, he assumed folk-hero status in Bangladesh. But now he is under massive pressure: In late November, the Norwegian television station NRK aired a documentary produced by Danish journalist Tom Heinemann in which Yunus was accused of accounting irregularities — allegations Yunus rejects.