ACC arrests 7 fake doctors

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has arrested seven men who registered as doctors using fake MBBS certificates of a medical university in China.

A team led by ACC Deputy Director Selina Akhtar Moni arrested them from the Segunbagicha area on Wednesday.

According to the ACC, fake doctors Iman Ali, Sudeb Sen, Tanmoy Ahmed, Moktar Hossain, Md Kawsar, Rahmat Ali, and Masood Parvez were working at various institutions across Bangladesh with fake MBBS certificates of Taishan Medical University in China.

ACC Secretary Md Mahbub Hossain said they found 12 persons were practising medicine with fake MBBS certificates and they never studied at Taishan Medical University.

"After investigation, legal action will be taken against the government officials involved in the matter," he said.

Earlier, on 2 December 2020, the ACC filed a case against 14 people, including 12 fake doctors and the registrar of the Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council (BM&DC).

On 3 January this year, one of the accused, Mahmudul Haque, sought anticipatory bail from the High Court, but the court rejected his appeal and sent him to jail. At the same time, the High Court ordered immediate arrest of the remaining accused in the case.

Others accused in the case who have not been arrested yet are: Asad Ullah from Dhaka, Sheikh Atiar Rahman from Bagerhat, Md Saiful Islam from Feni, Md Aslam Hossain from Sirajganj, BM&DC Registrar Md Zahedul Haque Basunia, and its administrative officer, Mohammad Borhan Uddin.

According to the case statement, the ACC sent copies of the  certificates of the accused to Taishan Medical University through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh to verify their validity. After verification was done through the Bangladesh Embassy in Beijing, the foreign ministry sent the relevant records to the ACC on 21 January, 2019.

According to the School of International Education at Taishan Medical University, the MBBS certificates of the 12 persons were fake.

Handwriting experts said the signatures of various officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have been forged in the certificates.

The 12 fake MBBS certificate holders never studied at Taishan Medical University in China, some of them went to China only on tourist visas, and there is no evidence to support their stay in the country, said the ACC.

Furthermore, the Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council did not take any precautions or follow rules and regulations to verify the certificates.