FIA misleading Supreme Court in Hajj scam: Kazmi

Kazmi claims money deposited in his account included his salary and payments he received from various seminars.

ISLAMABAD: Former Minister for Religious Affairs Hamid Saeed Kazmi has said that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) is misleading the Supreme Court in the Hajj corruption scam.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad on Sunday, Kazmi stated that the allegations against him in the case are baseless. He claimed that there had been transactions from his bank account amount of almost Rs10 million, but the current balance was just above Rs200,000. He said the sum deposited in his account included his salary and payments he received from various seminars.

Kazmi also stated that he has informed Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and President Asif Ali Zardari about the behavior of the FIA.

The Hajj scam issue revolves around the role played by Ministry for Religious affairs role in arranging accommodations, transport and other facilities for hundreds of thousands of Hajj pilgrims. It is alleged that some ministry members made money via various ‘front men’.

There were reports that 'front men' arranged substitute lodging facilities for Pakistani pilgrims when accommodations arranged by the ministry of religious affairs proved to be of substandard quality.

The FIA team has been quizzing all players involved in the corruption and irregularities which had put an extra burden of Rs35,000 on each pilgrim last year.