The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has approved a case against Md Shahed Karim, Regent Group chairman and 4 other former directors of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
However, former DGHS chief Prof Abul Kalam Azad’s name was not in the case.
The accused are Dr Aminul Hasan, former director (Hospitals and Clinics), Deputy Director (Hospital-1) Dr Md Younus Ali, Assistant Director (Hospital-1) Dr Md Shafiur Rahman, and Research Officer Dr Md Didarul Islam.
Also Read - ACC launches probe against Regent Hospital owner Shahed
ACC Director (Public Relations) Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya confirmed the filing of the lawsuit to Dhaka Tribune on Wednesday.
ACC Deputy Director Farid Ahmed Patwary filed the case at its district office-1, after a month-long investigation into the allegations of issuing fake Covid-19 certificates by Regent Hospital.
A three-member team led by Farid Ahmed Patwary investigated the matter.
According to the case files, the accused transformed Regent Hospital, which was running without a license, to a Covid-19 dedicated hospital only to be mutually benefited by breaking people's trust and abusing power.
Regent Hospital charged Tk3,500 each for Covid-19 tests from 3,939 people. Although samples were screened at government lab NIPSOM free of charge which violated the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed between the Regent Hospital and the DGHS and thus, they pocketed TK 13.78 lakh,.
The commission also found that initiatives were taken to withdraw Tk1.9 crore from the Ministry of Health as an expenditure for the cost of food for doctors, nurses, ward boys, and other staffers in fraudulent ways which is also an offense, mentioned in the case files.
Also Read - ACC grills Shahed on his third day in remand
On July 13, the ACC decided to probe the allegations against Regent Hospital owner Shahed and formed a four-member probe committee to that end.
On July 15, law enforcement agencies arrested Shahed after eight days of investigation and raids in Dhaka and different districts.
Ex DGHS chief out of the accused list
Former DGHS chief Abul Kalam Azad’s name was not in the list of accused in the case filed by ACC.
ACC Secretary Muhammad Dilwar Bakht said the commission filed the case after finding credible evidence in the investigation.
Also Read - Regent Hospital Uttara Branch MD confesses to Covid-19 scam
However, it is not the last case by the ACC, if the commission finds evidence against anyone else involved in the corruption, they will also be included in the charge sheet, he said.
On July 21, Prof Kalam had to resign amid criticisms of DGHS for its poor handling of Covid-19 management.
