Regent Hospital Scam ACC launches inquiry against Shahed

The Anti-Corruption Commission on Monday launched an inquiry against sealed Regent Hospital owner Shahed Karim on the charge of accumulating illegal wealth through various fraudulent businesses and activities.

The commission initiated the inquiry against Shahed as it received complaints that he accumulated huge illegal wealth through microcredit, MLM business, and other types of fraud and deception, ACC director for public relations Pranab Kumar Bhattacharjee told reporters.

He also said that there was an allegation that Shahed evaded tax, took bank loans using false names and embezzled crores of money.

Shahed’s fraud cases began to surface after the Rapid Action Battalion found forged COVID-19 test certificates at his Regent Hosptial in Uttara in the city on July 6 amid the coronavirus crisis.

The ACC formed a three-member committee led by deputy director Abu Bakar Siddique to conduct the inquiry against Shahed.

Besides, RAB investigators on Monday told New Age that most of the cases filed against Shahed were related to cheque forgery and other financial fraudulences and cheating.

At least 56 cases have been traced against Shahed with around 50 of those in Dhaka and four in Sylhet.

RAB executive magistrate Sarwoer Alam said around 30 of those cases were related to cheque forgery and money embezzlement.

The investigators said that majority of the cases had been filed till 2012.

Sarwoer Alam told New Age that Shahed had building materials business which he operated mostly based on cheating.  He used to supply stones to different government projects, mostly big projects, the RAB magistrate added.

Shahed was supplying stones to Jolshiri project in Purbachal, besides the Padma Bridge project. ‘He supplied the stones at a lower rate than he used to buy those,’ Sarwoer Alam told New Age.

But Shahed mostly did not pay the suppliers from whom he brought stones and other construction materials and most of the cheques he provided to his suppliers bore fake signatures and bounced back, added Sarwoer.

Soon after the raid at the hospitals, a number of complaints were made to RAB against Shahed, including the claim that he owes crores of take to several businessmen.

Meanwhile, Md Shahed was yet to be traced a week after COVID-19 testing forgery case had been filed against him.

The RAB and police has been continuing their intelligence and vigilance at borders to arrest him and prevent him from leaving the country

RAB media wing director lieutenant colonel Ashik Billah said that they had been continuing their intelligence work to find Shahed as vigilance was beefed up at border areas.

Shahed Karim was running fraudulent activities by introducing himself as chairman of 11 business organisations and as editor of a daily newspaper. Shahed also used to introduce himself as the ruling Awami League’s international affairs sub-committee member. 

Using those identifies, Shahed used to call government high officials to take illegal advantages, said investigators.

Earlier on Sunday, home minister Asaduzzaman Khan said that Shahed would not be able to flee the country. He must surrender or face arrest, the minister added.

The COVID-19 testing forgery was detected after the Rapid Action Battalion on July 6 conducted raids on the Uttara and Mirpur branches of his Regent Hospital in the capital and found that the hospital forged over 6,000 COVID-19 certificates and embezzled over Tk 3 crore in the name of providing COVID-19 testing facilities and treatment.

A case was filed with Uttara West police station on the following day against Shahed and 16 other officials and staff members in charge of issuing fake COVID-19 certificates, charging fees for free testing and providing substandard health services.

Shahed has been on the run since the case was filed while nine of the hospital officials and employees were arrested and eight of them are now in police custody.

New Age correspondent in Chattogram, quoting Double Mooring police station officer-in-charge Sawdip Kumar Das, reported that a businessman in the port city of Chattogram filed a case with Double Mooring police station on Monday against Shahed for misappropriating Tk 91.25 lakh in 2017.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net