Hospital director granted full protection after revealing alleged corruption case

AMMAN — Minister of Interior Samir Mubaidin on Sunday pledged to guarantee full protection for Al Bashir Public Hospital Director Mahmoud Zureigat, after he reported threats he had received after he exposed and responded to an alleged corruption case, which led to a recent attack against a hospital official.

Last week, the director of the services unit was transferred to the intensive care unit after being attacked by 100 to 120 workers, according to Zureigat, who said that the attack came following the victim's revelation that 800 workers were receiving salaries without actually attending work.

“The services director dismissed the [fake] employees and only kept 80,” Zureigat was quoted in several local news reports as saying, adding that he also received death threats and decided not to show up at work without adequate police protection.

Health Ministry Spokesperson Hatem Azrui declined to make any remarks on the alleged corruption case, noting that the case details are in the hands of the hospital director.

Despite several attempts by The Jordan Times, Zureigat was not available for further comment.

However, in remarks to “Wasat Al Balad” programme on Radio “Fann”, Zureigat explained that 1,200 workers were listed on the hospital records under the cleaning and laundry services, a number that turned out to be "fake" as revealed by an investigation.

“We discovered 800 workers who received a big chunk of the hospital’s budget by taking JD300 monthly without even coming to work,” Zureigat told the station, adding that “a network of frauds used to buy real names and national numbers from people for JD50 and then take the remaining JD250 to line their pockets”.

He stressed that he “only seeks reforms behind revealing such a huge corruption case, and has no other financial or moral interests”.

During his meeting with Zureigat at the interior minister’s office, which was also attended by Amman’s governor and two senior police officers, Mubaidin stressed that it is the state’s duty to grant full protection to officials to enable them fulfill their responsibilities with complete security and stability, according to Petra.

“Jordan is a state governed by the rule of law and respect for institutions,” Azrui stressed in a phone call with The Jordan Times, adding that a complaint was filed against the perpetrators, which will be handled by the competent authorities.