DHAKA, Bangladesh

A Bangladeshi court on Wednesday asked Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus to pay more than 120 million taka ($1.2 million) in evaded tax to the National Board of Revenue.

The Dhaka High Court quashed all three appeals filed by the 82-year-old economist, who is considered the founder of the concepts of microfinance and microcredit.

This is the first High Court verdict against him on tax evasion.

The court ruled that he evaded taxes from 2011 to 2013 by gifting money to three charitable trusts.

Yunus's lawyer maintains the government cannot legally claim tax on donations.

Observers say the cases against Yunus are politically motivated.

The ruling Awami League party has alleged that Yunus has influenced the US against the government and caused blocking of $3 billion funding of the World Bank for the country’s biggest multipurpose Padma bridge project.

Earlier, 40 world leaders wrote a letter to the Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in favor of Yunus. However, the ruling Awami League party termed the letter part of a conspiracy.

Yunus is the first Bangladeshi to win the Nobel Peace prize in 2006 with Grameen Bank. His bank, a microfinance institute, provides small loans to poor and low-income people for business purposes.

He lost a legal battle after the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina removed him from the bank over retirement age regulations in 2011.