EOBI shares case: FIA makes contact with AKD

Dhedi consults his legal advisers on contesting the case in court

KARACHI: After the arrest of directors of Aqil Karim Dhedhi Securities (AKDS) complicated a case on purchasing shares of Employees Old Age Benefits Institution (EOBI), behind-the-scene negotiations have begun between the authorities and AKDS leadership.

According to reliable sources, contact has been made between AKDS chief Aqil Karim Dhedhi and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Sindh Director Shahid Hayat through intermediaries.



In talks through an FIA official, the agency has offered to find a middle way out if AKD opts for silence in the media.

However, Dhedhi has decided to consult his legal advisers on the matter.

According to sources, an official of a private bank who is associated with AKD’s rival group and close to a few FIA officers, is also trying to influence the matter.

In the recently registered case, owners of a company called Emtax were named as the main accused while as many as 22 people had been nominated in the case. While officials associated with AKDS were arrested, the main accused had been detained in Faisalabad but was later released in Lahore.

For his part, AKD maintains that the report used as a basis for lodging a case against them was compiled professionally and carries a disclaimer that AKDS cannot be held responsible for any loss in case shares were purchased based on their research report.



Further, Dhedhi’s legal advisers have told him that the case registered against him was weak and that he is very likely to get relief from the courts.

The shares in question were purchased through another brokerage house with AKDS accusing the FIA of singling them out.

The federal minister for interior Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had directed an FIA team, headed by Shahid Hayat, to approach the chairman of the Securities Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) for his opinion on the matter which will decide the fate of the case.

According to sources, AKD has learnt that FIA is planning to lodge further cases against him unless he accepts the FIA terms of keeping silent and to secure release of his directors.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 15^th, 2016.