A Dhaka court on Tuesday framed charges against three people including Regent group chairman Mohammad Shahed and Managing Director (MD) Masud Parvez in a fraud case.

The formal trial in the case has started with the charge framing.

The other accused in the case is Shipon Ali, general manager of Regent KCS Ltd.

Read: Regent Group Chairman Shahed put on 4-day remand

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Devdas Chandra Adhikari frame charges against them rejecting their plea for exemption from the case.

The court also fixed February 15 for recording the statements of the witnesses, said State Public Prosecutor Azad Rahman.

On July 24, 2020, SM Shipon, a sand trader, filed a case against the trio at Uttara West Police Station on charge of fraudulence.

On November 8 of the year, CID Inspector of Police Akram Hossain submitted a chargesheet against the three after investigating the case.

According to the case, accused Shipon Ali ordered 50 lakh CFT sand worth Tk 19.75 crore from the plaintiff’s company. Shipon Ali issued three cheques of Pubali Bank in this regard that were dishonored later.

Meanwhile, according to the order, SM Shipon delivered sand worth Tk 61 lakh.

Later, accused Shipon informed that the sand was ordered by Regent Chairman Shahed and the company’s MD Masud.

Read: HC rejects Shahed’s bail application

On February 14 the same year, Shipon took the plaintiff to Shahed and Masud for money when the accused threatened the plaintiff.

On the other hand, on July 6, 2020, Rab raided the Uttara and Mirpur branches of Regent Hospital. During the operation, fake Covid test reports, and various irregularities including collection of money from patients in the name of Covid treatment were unveiled.

The next day, a case was filed against 17 people at Uttara West Police Station. On July 15, from the border area of ​​Satkhira, Regent Group and Regent Hospital Chairman Shahed was arrested by RAB. Shahed has been in jail since then. Last year, the court sentenced him to life imprisonment in an arms case.