JKG Health Care is an unregistered organisation that had provided over 1,925 fake COVID-19 certificates without even collecting samples, merely based on observing symptoms, according to the Detective Branch (DB) of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police.
Police have almost wrapped up their investigations and are preparing to file charge sheet against JKG Health Care’s Ariful Islam Chowdhury, his wife Sabrina Arif Chowdhury and some other officials within a few days, said Abdul Baten, an additional commissioner of the DMP, at a briefing on Thursday.
The police officer said that they had completed forensic tests of seized laptops and other devices in the CID lab and collected concrete evidence of certificate forgery.
JKG had collected 13,585 samples and of them, 11,660 were stored in their computer system, Baten said.
The investigation traced that 1,925 Covid-19 certificates were provided without collecting samples or testing anything. Those certificates were made merely on observing symptoms of people, the officer added saying that JKG used to send these fabricated reports to people through a fake email server.
The officer said that JKG is not a listed company and it does not have any valid documents and board of directors.
Arif and Sabrina used to introduce themselves as different post holders at whim. Arif used to introduce himself as CEO in most cases, and as chairman, when required. Sabrina also used to claim herself as chairman in some instances, and convener in other cases, DB investigators said.
In fact, two months after signing the agreement with the Department of Health Services, JKG obtained a trade license from the City Corporation, but did not register under Registrar of Joint Stock Companies And Firms (RJSC).
Certificate forgery case was filed with Tejgaon police station on June 23 against six people, including Ariful Chowdhury, chief executive officer of JKG Health Care.
The police then arrested Ariful and five other current and former employees of the organization on the day. Sabrina’s involvement in forgery was mentioned in their accounts and she was arrested on July 12.
Sabrina, also a cardiac surgeon at the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, and her husband Arif were remanded in two phases.
Asked how a fake organization like JKG was allowed to test coronavirus samples or which officials of DGHS were involved in the process, Baten said that the findings had been submitted to the higher authorities.
The DGHS is a government institution. In accordance with the government rules, the Ministry of Health will take departmental action against the accused, who worked in the DGHS, said the officer.