Regent Hospital scam: ACC quizzing ex-health DG Azad

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has begun to query Dr Abul Kalam Azad, former Director-General of the Directorate-General for Health Services (DGHS), about his suspected involvement in irregularities in the agreement between Regent Hospital and DGHS.

The ACC team led by its director, Sheik Md Fanafillah, began the questioning after Abul Kalam Azad reached the headquarters of the Commission in the capital at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday.

Earlier on Tuesday, the anti-graft body questioned him for five hours about his alleged N95 mask scam connection.

On 6 August, the Commission summoned Azad for questioning on his suspected involvement in N-95 mask fraud and irregularities regarding the agreement signed between Regent Hospital and DGHS.

On July 21, Prof. Azad resigned in the face of widespread criticism of major irregularities in the country's health system, revealed one after the other during the latest COVID-19 health crisis.

He submitted his resignation to the Ministry of Public Administration as Chief of DHGS in the contract service after his term of office ended in 2019.

The Ministry of Health and the DHGS have recently been blamed for fraud, as the law enforcement agencies discovered a series of COVID-19 test reports on fraudulent scams involving many private hospitals.

Several other scandals in the health sector have also been revealed, including N95 mask scandals at the start of the COVID-19 crisis, and controversial agreements have been signed with Regent Hospital and JKG Health Care, two institutions accused of manipulating and selling COVID-19 records and operating facilities without licences.

On June 18, the ACC formed a four-member committee to investigate the allegation that low-quality products were passed off as N95 masks as part of COVID-19 medical supplies to some government hospitals by JMI Group.

On July 13, ACC launched an inquiry against Regent Hospital owner Shahed Karim on charges of accumulating illegal wealth.