Sabrina to be quizzed for 2 more days

A Dhaka court on Friday allowed investigators on Friday to question JKG Healthcare chairperson and cardiac surgeon Sabrina Arif Chowdhury for two more days pertaining to a case filed against her for falsifying COVID-19 test reports.

Detective Branch inspector Liakat Ali, also the investigating officer of the case, sought more five days as he placed her before the court of metropolitan magistrate Masudur Rahman after completion of interrogation for three days.

So far Sabrina and Ariful Islam Chowdhury, JKG Healthcare chief executive officer, have been questioned twice over the COVID-19 certificate forgery allegations, said the New Age court correspondent.

Sabrina was arrested on July 11 by the Tejgaon police and on the following day she was sent to police custody to be quizzed for three days.

DB investigators said that they have interrogated and crossed-examined Sabrina and Arif over the COVID-19 test scam and they continued blaming each other.

The National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases cardiac surgeon Sabrina is the wife of Ariful. She has recently been suspended by the health ministry for her involvement with a private organisation without permission.

Ariful is on second day of his four-day interrogation while Sabrina’s two-day questioning will start today, said DB officers.

Therefore, their interrogation will be ended Sunday, said the officers.

The investigator said that they quizzed the couple together for once where Sabrina was firm to her claim that it was her husband Ariful, who was behind falsifying coronavirus test reports.

She said that their relationship turned sour and she withdrew her from JGK and informed it to the directorate general of health service officials, according to investigators.

Sabrina claimed that she played an important role in obtaining permission of DGHS in COVID-19 sample collections, but Ariful misused the opportunity and issued fake certificates without testing.

The DB officials claim that Sabrina might have removed some evidences that would proof her involvement in the forgery after Ariful was arrested on June 23.

The investigators said they obtained some information which confirmed that Sabrina was used to exchange text messages with people involved in fraudulent activities.

Investigators further said that JKG made a good amount of money by providing telemedicine services for which they had no permission.

JKG Healthcare was formed in 2015 as a non-profit organisation.

Investigators said that they didn’t find any document mentioning that JKG was a sister concern of Oval Group, adding that JKG had no trade licence when it sought permission from DGHS to collect swabs for coronavirus testing.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net