Bangladesh

ACC sues Azad, former DG of health services, over Regent Hospital scam

ByStaff Correspondent
Abul Kalam Azad, who resigned recently as the director general of health services, leaving the Anti-Corruption Commission in Dhaka after quizzing over irregularities amid the coronavirus pandemic on Wednesday. Photo: Mahmud Zaman Ovi

Azad stands accused of signing a COVID-19 treatment deal with Regent, an unlicensed hospital.

The national anti-graft watchdog approved a chargesheet against six people, including Azad and Shahed, on Monday. The charges will soon be submitted to the court, ACC spokesperson Mohammad Arif Sadiq said.

The four others accused in the case are former DGHS Director Aminul Hasan, Deputy Director Yunus Ali, Assistant Director Shafiur Rahman and Research Officer Didarul Islam.

Farid Ahmed Patwary, the deputy director of the anti-graft commission, started a case against five people -- four DGHS officials and Shahed -- on Sept 23 last year for embezzling Tk 33.4 million through irregularities after signing the deal.

Azad was not initially named in the case but the chargesheet added his name after the investigation. The investigator submitted the chargesheet in the case after a yearlong probe.

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