NA staff named in housing scam

Twelve officials alleged to have made millions by defrauding the National Assembly Housing Society.

ISLAMABAD: Some 12 officials of the National Assembly, including a brother of a serving Supreme Court judge, are alleged to have made millions by defrauding the National Assembly Housing Society in a newly-surfaced scam, highly-placed sources told The Express Tribune.

National Assembly’s Joint Secretary Shahid Hussain Jilani, Deputy Secretary Tariq Khan Khakwani and 10 other officials, including the private secretary to the National Assembly Speaker, are accused of wrongdoing in the affair.

FIA is expected to be asked by the authorities to register cases against all the accused after their removal from service. Action has also been recommended against former Islamabad deputy commissioner Asadullah.

Shahid Jilani, who is said to be a brother of a serving judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, is alleged to have purchased land measuring 11 kanals and 16 marlas in Moza Phag, situated outside the proposed layout plan.

He is also alleged to have caused a loss of Rs7.2million by charging double the average market rate. This amount is expected to be recovered from him.

He is also accused of having purchased scattered land measuring about 205 kanals by charging an extra amount of approximately Rs0.3 million per kanal.

Jilani is also said to have made business deals in the absence of business rules and allegedly made agreements with property dealers on stamp papers, which were not registered with the stamp vendor. He allegedly withdrew deposited amounts against membership of the housing society by transferring these memberships in his own name allegedly on fake documents and agreements.

Tariq Khakwani has been charged with making payments to consultants for so-called consultancy services and preparation of non-approved layout plan, purchase of scattered land, mostly from land grabbers, payment for land without transfer of land, payment of salary to staff appointed without advertisement, etc.

He is also alleged to have taken two salaries despite being a government servant, in violation of government rules.

Former deputy commissioner Islamabad Asadullah Faiz is alleged to have played a key role in the whole affair and allegedly facilitated the accused officers of the Parliament House. The establishment division is said to have been asked to take disciplinary action against him.

Faiz is said to have admitted that he was under “external political pressure” to accommodate Tariq Khakwani who was running his show at the housing society. A total of six charges are said to have been established against the former DC Islamabad.

Malik Din, of the Islamabad Capital Territory’s (ICT) cooperative department, is also said to be facing action and he may be suspended from services for not fulfilling his lawful duties which led to this scam and people lost millions that they had invested in the housing scheme.

Action has also been recommended against Muhammad Ayub & Brothers, MKN Consulting Engineers, Malik Moeed Ilyas, Muhammad Ilyas Butt, Rizwan Ahmed, Usman Nawaz Khokar and others.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 2^nd, 2011.