A hospital owner in Bangladesh, was arrested while trying to flee after selling documents certifying migrant workers as coronavirus-free. The New York Times reports that most of the workers had never been tested.

Authorities said Mohammad Shahed had sold more than 10 000 fake certificates showing a negative result on coronavirus tests to migrant workers, from his Regent Hospital in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.

Shahed, who reportedly has a long criminal record, was attempting to slip across the border into India on Wednesday, when he was caught. Police said he was disguised as a woman wearing a black burqa that covered him from head to toe.

According to the NYT there is a huge demand for the certificates, sold at $59 each, among Bangladesh workers anxious to return to work in Europe. Bangladesh is one of the poorest countries in Asia. Millions of Bangladeshis work abroad. The NYT reports that many Bangladeshi workers had recently been flown to Italy, where employers allegedly required such certificates before they were allowed back to work.

Meanwhile, two other doctors have been arrested and accused of selling thousands of fake negative certificates from their laboratory in Dhaka. Obaidul Quader, a minister in Bangladesh’s government, said the extensive use of fake Covid-19 certificates was “a huge blow to the image of our country.” He said criminal syndicates operating across Bangladesh, were risking people’s lives in selling fake certificates.

Umm Muhammed Umar