Regent owner barred from leaving country, aide held

Regent Hospital chairman Md Shahed was barred from leaving the country after he was sued in a case of COVID-19 certificate forgery.

Officer-in-charge of immigration police Mohammad Shoibal said that they were informed about it and sent the notice to the concerned officials.

Earlier, a case was filed against 17 officials and staff members of Regent Hospital including its chairman Md Shahed on Tuesday in connection with providing several thousand fake COVID-19 certificates and charging people for free tests.

A court in Dhaka sent seven officials and employees to five-day remand on the following day.

Shahed had been absconding since the incident.

Meanwhile, RAB arrested Shahed’s associate and Regent Group official Tariqul Islam from Nakhalapara and seized some documents on Thursday morning.

Earlier on Monday, RAB conducted raids at the Uttara and Mirpur branches of the Regent Hospital in Dhaka and found that it forged over 6,000 COVID-19 certificates and embezzled over Tk 3 crore in the name of providing COVID-19 testing facilities and treatments.

The mobile court, led by executive magistrate Sarwoer Alam on Tuesday raided at the Regent Group head office and seized some fake certificates, many unauthorized rapid testing kits, and an unregistered jeep.

Sarwoer told reporters in a briefing that certificates were forged in the main office at Uttara sector-12 and then sold to different people at a price of Tk 3,500.

Most of the fake certificates were showing negative results, said an officer of RAB.

The Regent Group main office and Uttara branch of the hospital were already sealed off, police said.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net