Regent Group Chairman Shahed gets bail in Tk1cr fraud case
A Dhaka court granted him 10 days' bail after a settlement with the complainant, but he will remain in jail due to other pending cases.
A Dhaka court today (30 July) granted bail to Regent Hospital and Regent Group Chairman Mohammad Shahed Karim in a fraud case filed over allegations of receiving construction materials worth Tk1 crore without making payment.
Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Ehsanul Islam passed the order after a hearing.
Shahed's lawyer Mohammad Dabir Uddin said the court granted him 10 days' bail on a Tk5,000 bond following a settlement between Shahed and the complainant.
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However, Shahed will not be released from jail as he remains detained in connection with other cases, the lawyer added.
The case was filed on 13 July 2020 by Md Saifullah Masud, proprietor of Messrs Masud Enterprise.
According to the case statement, the complainant supplied construction materials to Shahed on several occasions from 2018 based on his requests. Initially, Shahed made payments in cash before later issuing cheques.
The complainant alleged that Shahed issued four cheques worth a total of Tk1 crore drawn on Prime Bank. However, the cheques were returned unpaid when presented for encashment due to insufficient funds.
The complaint further stated that Shahed repeatedly delayed repayment despite being informed about the dishonoured cheques.
When the complainant demanded payment on 26 June 2020, Shahed allegedly refused and threatened to kill him, prompting the filing of a general diary with Uttara West Police Station.
Court Bench Assistant Md Ruhul Amin said Shahed had been shown arrested in the case and was granted bail for 10 days following the settlement.
The next hearing in the case has been scheduled for 8 September.
Shahed was arrested on 20 July from the capital's ECB Chattar area by Pallabi Police Station based on an arrest warrant issued in a separate cheque dishonour case involving Tk2.16 crore filed by Mercantile Co-operative Bank. He has remained in custody since then.
Shahed came under nationwide scrutiny in 2020 after allegations surfaced that Regent Hospital had issued fake Covid-19 test certificates.
He faces more than 35 cases, including charges related to fraud, illegal arms possession and acquiring wealth beyond known sources of income. On 28 September 2020, he was sentenced to life imprisonment in an arms case.
After securing bail in several cases, Shahed was released from prison on 4 September 2024 after spending nearly four years behind bars.
