Investigation launched against
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has decided to initiate an investigation against Beximco Pharmaceuticals Vice Chairman Salman F. Rahman and others for allegedly embezzling Tk 22,000 crore in the purchase of the Corona vaccine. ACC Director General Akhtar Hossain gave this information during a briefing to journalists on Friday (March 17) afternoon based on a complaint.
The complaint filed by Bangladesh Medical Research Council (BMRC) official Moidul Islam with the ACC states that Beximco Pharma was included as a supplier in the purchase of 30 million doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine from the Serum Institute of India.
The complaint further states that the government procurement policy was not followed in the vaccine purchase agreement between the Bangladesh government, Beximco and Serum Institute. Beximco was included as a third party in the import process without any reasonable reason, as a result of which Bangladesh had to buy the vaccine at a higher price than other countries.
Investigation launched against
The complainant further claimed that if the government had purchased the vaccine directly from the Serum Institute, it would have been possible to purchase an additional 6.8 million doses of the vaccine with the money saved per dose.
Beximco Pharmaceuticals is reported to have made a profit of Tk 77 per dose after deducting all costs.
On August 12, 2022, the then Health Minister Zahid Malek said that the Awami League government had spent about Tk 40,000 crore on the purchase of the corona vaccine and other vaccination-related expenses until then.
The complaint claims that a syndicate led by Salman and Zahid embezzled at least Tk 22,000 crore while involved in the purchase of the corona vaccine.
Regarding the complaint, ACC official Akhtar said, “It is not possible to provide detailed information on how this money was embezzled at this time. We will provide more information after the investigation.”
