Regent Group Chairman Shahed Karim confessed to his crimes in court before promising to return the money he embezzled.
The Rapid Action Battalion produced him in a Dhaka court on Sunday, when investigators were given 28 days to quiz Shahed in custody in four separate cases.
“I can’t take this anymore,” he told the court of Metropolitan Magistrate Rajesh Chowdhury during the hearing of the remand plea of one of the cases.
Shahed claimed that he is unwell and pleaded to postpone the hearing of the remand pleas.
“I have committed the crimes that I have been accused of. But I will gradually return the money to everyone soon, after businesses resume and life returns to normal in the country,” he told the court.
Meanwhile, a Satkhira court sent Shahed on a 10-day remand in a firearms case filed with a local police station.
On July 16, a Dhaka court remanded Shahed and Regent Hospital Managing Director Masud Parvez for 10 days each and Shahed’s associate Tariqul Islam alias Tareque Shibli for seven days.
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On July 15, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested an armed Shahed on the bank of Labangaboti canal at a village in Satkhira’s Debhata upazila early in the morning.
The elite police unit said as he was trying to flee to India through the Satkhira borders.
Shahed was absconding since RAB raided the Uttara and Mirpur branches of Regent Hospital. He had already been named 56 cases for fraud.
On July 6, RAB raided the Regent Hospital branches on allegations of issuing fake Covid-19 certificates, as well as charging exorbitant fees for Covid-19 testing and treatment of patients in violation with an agreement with the government’s health department.
RAB found evidence of at least 6,000 fake Covid-19 test certificates during the raids.
The next day, RAB filed a case against 17 people, including Shahed, with Uttara West police station. Later, ten other people were also arrested.
