NICL fraud: FIA drops charges against Niazi in one case

LAHORE:

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has decided to drop charges against the former chairman of the National Insurance Company Limited (NICL) in one case against him, after having found no evidence of his culpability.

The case involved the alleged misappropriation of Rs27 million, which was supposedly meant to be spent on painting six floors of the NICL headquarters building in Karachi. The case has alleged that only four floors were painted and the rest of the amount was embezzled by several suspects, including Ayyaz Khan Niazi, the former chairman of the company.

Investigators later found out that the money was spent on interior decoration and was not misappropriated. The FIA also ruled out any bribery or other corrupt behaviour in the matter.

The FIA commissioned a report by renowned architect, Nayyar Dada, who found that the work done by Casabella, the company awarded the contract, was not substandard and the fee charged for their work was not exorbitant.

“The work done and price quoted by M/s Casabella is generally comparable to market price and (the) standard (of quality of work) is reasonable,” said Dada in his report.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 7^th,  2011.