ACC arrests JMI founder Abdur Razzaq over mask, PPE scam

The anti-graft agency has arrested JMI Group founder and Managing Director Abdur Razzaq in a case that accuses his company of supplying “low-quality” masks, PPEs and other health equipment to the government amid the coronavirus crisis.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 29 Sept 2020, 09:10 AM
Updated : 29 Sept 2020, 01:30 PM

Nurul Huda, deputy director of the Anti-Corruption Commission or ACC, filed the case with ACC’s Dhaka-1 unit on Sunday, accusing Razzaq and six others in the case.

Anti-Corruption Commission

A team led by ACC Director Mir Md Zainul Abedin Shebly arrested Razzaq in the capital’s Shegunbagicha, according to the commission’s spokesman Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya.

The others accused in the case were -- Dr Zakir Hossain, former deputy director of the government’s Central Medical Stores Depot or CMSD, Dr Md Shahjahan, Assistant Director (Administration), desk officers Ziaul Haque and Sabbir  Ahmed, store officers Kabir Ahmed and Senior Storekeeper Yusuf Fakir.

JMI Hospital Requisite Manufacturing Ltd, a unit of JMI Group, is at the heart of the controversy.

On Jun 15, the anti-graft agency brought together a four-member team led by Zainul Abedin Shebly to look into complaints over the purchase and supply of low-quality N-95 masks, PPEs and other health safety equipment amid the pandemic outbreak to the government.

The investigation team interrogated the seven accused and several others over the complaints and the case was filed after three months of investigation.