Anti-Corruption Commission on Wednesday filed a case against Regent Hospital Chairman Md Shahed alias Shahed Karim and the former director (hospital and clinic) Dr Md Aminul Hasan and three other officials of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) over allegedly embezzling 3.34 crore taka by abusing power to transform unlicenced Regent Hospital as a dedicated Covid-19 hospital.
The other three DGHS officials accused in the case are Deputy Director (Hospital-1) Dr Md Younus Ali, Assistant Director (Hospital-1) Dr Md Shafiur Rahman and research officer, Dr Md Didarul Islam.
Director (public relations) of the ACC Pranab Kumar Bhattachariya confirmed the filing of the lawsuit to The Business Post.
Deputy Director of the ACC Md Farid Ahmed Pathowary filed the case after a months-long investigation into the fake coronavirus testing by Regent Hospital.
A three-member team led by Md Farid Ahmed Pathowary was investigating this since the scam of Regent Hospital hit the media headlines.
The FIR of the case said, "The accused persons transformed Regent Hospital, which was running without a licence, as dedicated Covid-19 hospital only to be mutually benefited by breaking people's trust and abusing power. Regent Hospital charged 3,500 taka each test from 3,939 Covid-19 patients although samples were screened at government lab NIPSOM free of charge which is the ultimate violation of the memorandum of understanding signed between Regent Hospital and the DGHS and thus, pocketed 13,786,500 taka".
The FIR also said, "Initiatives have been taken to withdraw 19,620,000 taka from the Ministry of Health as an expenditure for the cost of food for doctors, nurses, ward boys and other staffers in fraudulent way which is also an offence".
Md Shahed alias Shahed Karim is currently in behind bars after being arrested by Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) on the way to fleeing the country to India over the various allegations including issuing fake coronavirus test reports and keeping illegal firearms, as well as making a quick buck in an illegal way.
Dr Md Aminul Hasan was made OSD after charges against him surfaced of helping in signing a murky deal with Regent Hospital on performing Covid-19 tests and various allegations in the health sector. He is currently serving as the principal of Dhaka Institute of Health Technology.
sh/teb
