CID files money laundering case against REGENT Shahed

File photo: Police escort Shahed Karim at a court premises in Dhaka on Wednesday, August 19, 2020 Dhaka Tribune

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has filed a case against Regent Hospital Chairman Mohammad Shahed under the Money Laundering Act.

The case was filed with Uttara West police station on Tuesday, said CID Senior Assistant Superintendent of Police Jisanul Haque.

According to CID, Shahed and his vested interests had deposits in 43 banks amounting to Tk91.70 crore. Of the amount, he has withdrawn Tk90.47 crore.

At present, he has deposits amounting to Tk2.04 crore in his bank accounts and loans worth Tk80 lakh, according to a press release on Tuesday.

The CID’s investigation has revealed that the source of the money was fraud and forgery.

Fraudster Shahed has embezzled Tk7.9 crore from January 1, 2017 to July 15, 2020 through cheating and forgery with various people. He also embezzled Tk3.11 crore from the general people by issuing fake Covid-19 test certificates, CID said.

The CID also said that Shahed moved his criminal income through 43 bank accounts under the names of 12 organizations, including Regent Hospital and Regent KCS Ltd. At the time of opening the bank accounts, Shahed identified himself as the chairman or proprietor of the institutions in the KYC forms.

Shahed also opened an account with a private bank in the name of Regent Discovery Tours & Travels Ltd in collaboration with Regent MD Masud Parvez, his main accomplice. The account was managed by Shahed’s father Sirajul Karim and Masud Parvez.

According to preliminary investigation, Masud Parvez operated most of the accounts on behalf of the accused Shahed.

Furthermore, Masud Parvez deposited Tk3.98 crore in 15 banks accounts of his own, and has withdrawn the same amount. His account balance currently stands at Tk5,000.

The CID said that fraud and embezzlement are offenses under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2012. At present, 30 cases have been registered against Shahed and his associates for these crimes.

The CID found that Shahed and his associates are embezzled around Tk11,02,27,897 in the name of their various companies.

The CID’s Organized Crime division has filed a case against Saheed for allegedly using the proceeds of fraud and forgery to convert and spend money on transactions through various banks.

They will also investigate the case.

Dhaka tribune