Karachi land deal: FIA links Amin Fahim to NICL scam

Federal minister accused of receiving more than Rs20 million in the NICL scam.

ISLAMABAD:

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has traced that Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim received kickbacks in the multi-billion-rupee National Insurance Company Limited (NICL) scam.

Fahim is the second politician whose name has appeared in the case. Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) leader Moonis Elahi is already standing trial in the Supreme Court and the Lahore High Court (LHC).

FIA Karachi Deputy Director Altaf Hussain told the National Assembly Standing Committee on Commerce on Thursday that Fahim’s bank account was one of the 19 accounts where money was transferred in the Korangi Land deal. The account is jointly operated by Fahim and a Jaliluzzaman, and Rs24.4 million were transferred for settling an outstanding loan. As much as Rs8.4 million was separately deposited into Jaliluzzaman’s account while Rs7.9 million were transferred to Rizwana Amin’s account. A committee member asked if Jaliluzzaman was Fahim’s son but Hussain did not have an answer to that.

Hussain said that according to National Engineering Services Pakistan Private Ltd (Nespak), NICL paid Rs487.4 million over and above the market rate to purchase 10 acres of land in Korangi from Khalid Anwar. The FIA has established kickbacks worth Rs300 billion in the deal, which was struck through Khwaja Akbar, the front man for NICL Chairman Ayaz Niazi.

“We have met Fahim and asked him to explain how the money was transferred into his account. He has sought time to reply,” Hussain said.

Hussain said that according to the FIA’s investigations, Rs2.42 billion were embezzled out of the total purchases worth Rs5 billion. “The seller of the property (Anwar), through his lawyer, has offered to return Rs490 million in instalments in five years along with interest payments. The FIA has no objections to the offer but the trial court has to accept it,” he said.

Lahore Airport land deal

FIA Lahore Deputy Director Javed Hussain told the panel that the FIA has trailed Rs320 million from the fake
accounts opened following
orders from Moonis Elahi.

The NICL purchased land in Lahore from the Warraich family at a cost of Rs1.1 billion. The land is valued at Rs562.5 million by the Nespak, thus the NICL paid Rs502 million over and above actual price. The FIA has arrested Moonis Elahi in this case, but he has pleaded not guilty.

Hussain said the FIA had found £1.1 million in Moonis Elahi’s account in England and Rs90 million in his wife’s account. “On this basis, the LHC has rejected Moonis Elahi’s bail plea,” he said.

He said two fake accounts were opened in two banks. The bank managers had confessed that Moonis Elahi had called them and asked to open the accounts. These accounts were opened in the name of Adil Manzoor, who was a labourer, and a Khadim who was a small retailer in Mandi Bahauddin.

Hussain said Mohsin Warraich, seller of the property, has offered to return the money in instalments by November 2013 and the FIA has accepted the offer conditionally.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 20^th, 2011.