DHA scam: Remand extended for suspects

NAB officials urged court to grant 14-day extension of physical custody

ISLAMABAD: An accountability court on Friday extended physical custody remand of two former military men and a civilian official for six days in the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) Islamabad farmhouse project case.

Accountability judge Muhammad Bashir granted remand of the suspects, including former DHA project director Col (retd) Sabahat Qadeer Butt, former DHA administrator Brig (retd) Javed Iqbal, and Elysium Holdings CEO Waseem Aslam, on the request of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

How did General Kayani’s brother manage to scam DHA?

The anti-graft body produced the suspects before the court on the expiry of their previous remand.

During the hearing, NAB officials urged the court to grant a 14-day extension to the physical custody remand. NAB officials said the bank account details of the suspects and records of the project have not been obtained yet. They also informed the court that they needed approval from General Headquarters in order to obtain records of the DHA project.

The counsel for the suspects opposed the request, saying that his clients had no access to the record, and that it may be obtained from the DHA office.

NAB Rawalpindi had arrested the suspects for allegedly selling non-saleable certificates of the project, in violation of a contract between DHA and Elysium.

Aslam, who is also the prime suspect, sold non-saleable certificates of DHA without acquiring the land first.



Separately, the NAB has also launched an investigation into Kamran Kayani, the brother of former army chief General (retd) Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, over his alleged involvement in the DHA City Lahore scam, worth more than Rs16 billion.

The DHA City project was launched in 2009, primarily to facilitate the families of martyrs, war wounded, and other armed forces staffers by allotting them small plots.

Kamran Kayani, owner of Elysium Holdings, and Hammad Arshad of Globaco, offered their services to facilitate DHA Lahore in carrying out the project by acquiring the necessary land.

Six years after the initial agreement, the accused have yet to deliver the plots to soldiers, families of martyrs and the general public.

This prompted DHA to lodge a formal complaint earlier this month against Kamran Kayani and Hammad Arshad with NAB. Arshad has been arrested on allegations of corruption and corrupt practices, cheating the public at large and misappropriation of funds from Lahore.



Following the arguments, the court granted a six-day remand with directions to the investigators to complete their probe into the matter.

The case was adjourned till February 4.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 30^th,  2016.