Muhammad Yunus, the man who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his efforts to fight poverty in his native Bangladesh, has been sentenced to 14 years in prison after being found guilty of extorting money from banks, the AP reports.
Bangladesh's banking industry was already among the world's most corrupt, according to the New York Times, and the 77-year-old Yunus was found guilty of violating the country's anti-money-laundering laws because he claimed to have received kickbacks from the banks in return for pushing the government to reduce poverty.
More than 200 world leaders, including Hillary Clinton, Richard Branson, and Barack Obama, have signed an open letter condemning the conviction and sentencing and urging Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to allow Yunus to continue his work with Grameen Bank, the bank he founded to fight poverty.
"We are afraid that if he goes to jail, he will be tortured and killed," says a spokesman for the Grameen Bank, which has been accused of running a "money-laundering mill" and has been accused of running a "scam" by charging customers too much for electricity and pocketing kickbacks.
Yunus, who was also convicted of tampering with records, was found guilty
A customized collection of grant news from foundations and the federal government from around the Web.
In the world of social enterprises, failure is a cringe-worthy moment nobody wants to talk about. But, social entrepreneurs can benefit from their failures.