Anti-corruption watchdog: Malik Qayyum, five others’ assets frozen in Rs1.3b fraud

Federal minister, Senators contesting the title of a questionable property.

LAHORE: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Punjab has frozen the assets and bank accounts of six people, including former attorney-general Malik Qayyum, former provincial minister Iqbal Tikka, Hammad Tikka, Rana Azam, Teefi Butt and Jugnu Butt, in a foreign currency scandal, involving a misappropriation of more than Rs1.3 billion, The Express Tribune learnt on Thursday.

Interestingly, the anti-corruption watchdog has disregarded the involvement of other influential people like the current federal minister for privatisation Senator Waqar Ahmad Khan, his brother Senator Ammar Ahmad Khan, his father former Senator Gulzar Ahmad Khan, former Inspector-General of Police Punjab and a member of the Punjab Public Service Commission Azhar Hassan Nadeem, SP Mukhtar Tikka and Brigidier (retd) Tahir Saeed.

Sheikh Ayub and his son, Mohsin Ayub, defrauded as many as 85 people of Rs1.38 billion, promising the victims lucrative returns.

However, when they got hold of the entire money, they are said to have “disappeared”.

After the NAB got involved, one of the main accused, Sheikh Ayub informed the authority that some influential people had “fraudulently and forcibly” transferred a valuable property using their political clout despite being cautioned by the NAB.

The Supreme Court had ordered the NAB to retrieve this property from the accused so that the authority could return the money to the victims of the fraud.

On December 30 last year, as many as 13 persons were included in NAB investigations.

On Thursday, NAB Punjab’s Financial Crime Investigation Wing (FCIW) recorded statements of Sheikh Ayub, original owner of Qasr-e-Zoq (the property in question) Mrs Shaheen Bibi, daughter of Muhammad Akram, and other accused.

Shaheen Bibi informed the investigation officer that after having received Rs900 million from Ayub, she had given a power of attorney of the said commercial property.

Ayub alleged that despite the property’s title being in his name, the current owner, Senator Ammar, had not paid him anything.

Senator Ammar insisted that he paid Rs480 million against the said property but a large chunk of the money was “received by Justice (retd) Malik Qayum and others despite the fact they “are not the owners of the said property”.

After recording these contradictory statements, NAB authorities have summoned all the alleged accused as well as the 85 claimants to arrive at a logical conclusion.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 14^th, 2011.