Corruption charges: FIA clears former Hajj minister

The FIA investigation team found no suspicious transaction in Hamid Saeed Kazmi's six accounts.

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has exonerated former Religious Affairs Minister Hamid Saeed Kazmi from charges of making millions of rupees in the wake of the Hajj debacle in the investigation report compiled by DG FIA that led to his ouster from the cabinet last month.

“The FIA investigation team found no suspicious transaction in the six accounts that could be identified as it procured details of Hamid Kazmi’s bank accounts in Muslim Commercial Bank and Faysal Bank, Multan,” states the 21-page report on Hajj irregularities compiled by DG FIA, Wasim Ahmad.

The allegations levelled by former minister for science and technology Azam Khan Swati against Hamid Saeed Kazmi could not be proven from the documents provided by the religious affairs ministry, concluded the report available with The Express Tribune.

Swati wrote several times to the FIA alleging misuse of the Hajj quota allocated by the Hajj Foundation and irregularities in the selection of Khuddam-ul-Hujjaj but he could not substantiate the allegations with documentary proof, the report stated.

The FIA is currently investigating the source of the additional Rs4.5 million that Kazmi has recorded in his declaration of assets.

There is no evidence on record of a monetary transaction  between Ahmed Faiz and Kazmi to establish any link with the former minister, according to the report.

Kazmi had declared in his statement that he d id not know the main accused in the Hajj scam, Ahmad Faiz. However, the former minister’s contention is not acceptable on account of the letter he wrote to director-general for issuance of an official passport to Ahmad Faiz, reads the report.

The FIA report also mentions that there was an unsigned application for his appointment as Director-General Hajj, Makkah, without remuneration in 2010.

Kazmi himself confessed before the Supreme Court that millions of rupees were embezzled in the religious affairs ministry amplifying the misappropriation in Hajj arrangements for 2010 compared to previous years.

The statements of Azam Swati, Abdul Rashid Naqib Ahmad, Secretary Religious Affairs Agha Sarwar Qazalbash and DG Hajj Shahid Khan recorded by the FIA team in December implicate Kazmi in the scam. The FIA has also confirmed that Shakeel Ahmad Rao, a key accused, remitted money from Saudi Arabia to various persons in 2010. Rao transferred Rs2.2 million from Abdul Rasheed’s account to Musharraf Haider, his son, Rao Kashif Jalil, his father Rao Abdul Jalil Khan, his brother in law Muhammad Nadeem Khan and M/s Raj Event Concern.

Rao Shakil had sent 5,999 Saudi Riyals to his wife Rukhsana Alim through Muhammad Yasin in May last year. Wasim Ahmad has requested the Supreme Court of Pakistan for an additional six weeks to conclude the investigation process.

Two days ago however Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry rejected FIA’s investigation report and asked its Director General to step down voluntarily. In the FIA’s 21-page investigation report, there were no written statements alleging that Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani’s son Abdul Qadir Gilani and his friend Zain Sukhera embezzled money in the Hajj affairs.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 9^th, 2011.