Guilty charge: FIA indicts Gondal in EOBI property scam

Seeks his physical custody for further interrogations


Asad Kharal September 19, 2014

LAHORE:


Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Punjab, Sindh and Islamabad chapters have declared Employees Old Age Benefits Institution (EOBI) former chairman Zafar Iqbal Gondal as guilty and the principal accused in the Rs34 billion scam, The Express Tribune has learnt.


The FIA has also sought his physical custody for further interrogations, recovery and finalisation of investigation.

During the tenure of previous Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)’s regime, the EOBI’s former chief Gondal – who is the younger brother of the then federal minister Nazar Gondal – had  purchased 18 properties worth Rs34 billion from different parties through dubious agreements.

The purpose of investment in real estate was to gain kickbacks and commissions from the sellers after purchasing their properties at prices much higher than their market value – a transaction which caused huge loss to the national exchequer, sources familiar with the matter told The Express Tribune.

During the course of investigation, it was established that not only the EOBI rules, the PPRA rules and Investment rules had been violated but ex-post-facto approval from the Board of Trustees (BoT) had also been made fraudulently after purchasing the properties.

All the three chapters of the FIA have prepared reports regarding involvement of Gondal and other accused involved in the multi-billion-rupee EOBI scandal.

The extracts of the FIA report – a copy of which is available with The Express Tribune – said that during investigation, Zafar Gondal could not give plausible reasoning in his defence rather he tried to shift burden upon other arrested co-accused.

“He has not given any cogent reasons for his actions. He tried to misguide by giving irrelevant details… The statements given/presented by Zafar Iqbal Gondal have been scrutinised and same have failed to prove his innocence,” said the three-page report submitted to the FIA director general.

Gondal was the EOBI chairman at the time of offence and had also remained member of Investment Committee (IC) as well as member Board of Trustees (BoT). All the decisions regarding the purchase of properties at higher rates were approved by him and payments were released under his supervision.

“He did never raise any objection/reservations in meetings of IC or BoT regarding the purchase of properties,” it said.

The FIA report also reveals that during investigations, Gondal remained absconder/proclaimed offender. “As far as his behaviour is concerned, he is joining the investigations, but his answers are not justifiable and his version does not exonerate him from his illegal actions. So far no recovery is affected,” the report ran.

The report has been prepared by the five-member investigation team of the FIA – comprising Assistant Directors (ADs) Khalid Anees, Muhammad Aftab Butt, Jamil Ahmed Khan Mayo, Khurram Saeed Rana and Inspector Muhammad Sarwar. This team has been constituted by the Director FIA Punjab Dr Usman Anwar.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 19th, 2014.

COMMENTS (1)

Shahid | 9 years ago | Reply

@Asad Kharal. Asad sahab i wonder what happened to the legal adviser who 'advised' EOBI on buying all these properties? His name is Barrister Masroor, and at present he is at BISP as 'Management Consultant'(a seat specifically created for him because there already was a legal advisor at BISP). He still represents CDA as legal council and appears in court for private cases he undertakes, all during office timings. But yet there is nobody to ask him that how come he enjoys 'aik ticket mae teen maze'.

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