Hospital accountant suspended for embezzlement

DOT Desk: Directorate General of Health Services suspended the accountant of the 250-bed Manikganj District Hospital for embezzling around Tk 70 lakh from public fund through different misconducts, reports The New Age.
DGHS director (administration) Abul Kalam Azad issued an office order on January 24 after getting the probe report.
The misconducts include procuring goods and equipment by
forging signature of another officer, making fake bill of giving
salary of cleaners and buying fuel and dodging house rent.
The accountant Syed Mohammad Mahmud Fuad even illegally enjoyed additional benefit of his recreational leave and took commission from the hospital’s other staffers in different purpose.
The hospital’s superintendent, Md Saifur Rahman, helped the accountant commit the misdeeds, said the investigation report, though the duo denied the allegations.
The one-member probe body, which was formed on September last year to inquire into the allegations of corruptions, submitted the report to Kamrun Nahar, assistant director (discipline) of the Directorate General of Health Services on January 16.
Earlier on September last year, some staffers of the hospital in September last year filed compliant with the director (admin) of DGHS against Fuad.
Following the allegations, DGHS authorities assigned Manikganj Sadar Upazila Health and Family Planning Officer (Acting) Md Minhaz Uddin to investigate into the allegations.
The investigation officer came up with the findings after around two and half months’ inquiry that include scrutinising documents, interrogating the accused and taking statements of hospitals staffers and witnesses.
About the corruptions, the probe report says accountant Fuad withdrew over Tk 42 lakh in 10 phases in different times last fiscal year by forging signature of another official of the hospital to buy different goods and equipment.
The hospital’s income from different sources like renting bed and diagnosis charges are paid to the hospital’s ‘user fund’ fees. The accountants grabbed around Tk 3 lakhs from the ‘user fee’ fund in between January to October last year.