The Anti-Corruption Commission interrogated JMI Hospital Requisite Manufacturing Ltd chairman Md Abdur Razzak, and Toma Construction Ltd medical team coordinator M Matiur Rahman on charge of their alleged involvement in providing low-quality products, including N-95 masks, to some government hospitals.
A team of the commission, headed by its director Mir Joynul Abdin Shibly, interrogated the two at the ACC interrogation cell at its head office while Elan Corporation Ltd chairman and managing director Aminul Islam Amin sent a written statement saying that he was ill, said ACC director for public relations officer Pranab Kumar Bhattacharjee.
He said that the interrogation started at about 10:00am.
On July 1, ACC summoned bosses of six health sector supplier firms to probe the incident of providing low-quality health products, including N-95 masks, to some government hospitals.
The three other companies are — Meditech Imaging Ltd, Lexicon Merchandise Ltd and Technocrat Ltd.
Meditech Imaging Ltd director Humayun Kabir and owner of Lexicon Merchandise Ltd and Technocrat Ltd Motazzerul Islam Mithu are scheduled to face ACC interrogation on Thursday.
Motazzerul is a well-known contractor in the health sector and he is reportedly running a syndicate known as ‘Mithu Syndicate’ in the country’s health sector, said Pranab.
In the ACC notices, the inquiry officer mentioned that those people allegedly embezzled huge amount of money and accumulated huge illegal wealth by participating in the supply networks of the health ministry and the health department.
It said that those who were involved in the irregularity, misappropriated huge amount of money by providing substandard personal portative equipment, including N-95 masks, for medical professionals of government hospitals during the COVID-19 outbreak.
On June 18, ACC formed a four-member inquiry committee to investigate the allegation that low-quality products were provided as COVID-19 medical supplies to some government hospitals by JMI.
Later, the names of rest of the companies were included in the investigation, said Pranab.
The commission initiated the inquiry on June 10.
