FIA finds nexus between top officials

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has found a nexus between Islamabad’s civil administration and three influential personalities of the city in a Rs160 million corporate housing societies scam, compelling the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to order immediate action against one of the main accused.

The scam involved funds intended for the National Assembly and Senate Secretariats Employees Cooperative Housing Societies.  It was unearthed when the FIA additional director-general disclosed that Islamabad’s deputy commissioner (DC) Amir Ali, in collaboration with National Assembly Deputy Secretary Tariq Khakwani, gave Rs90 million to three parties, supposedly to purchase land for the housing society, but without buying even an inch of land.

The PAC had directed the FIA  in February 2010 to conduct an inquiry.

“Out of Rs160 million, as much as Rs90 million was given to Usman Nawaz Khokar, son of Haji Nawaz Khokar [former deputy speaker of the National Assembly], Haji Naeem and Malik Tabaruk Hussain,” said the FIA Additional Director-General.

He said that the Islamabad DC acted in his capacity as registrar of the housing society and Tariq Khakwani was the society’s administrator.

“The committee unanimously directs that … disciplinary action must immediately be taken against the deputy secretary and in the next step an FIR be lodged against him,” said PAC Chairman Chaudhry Nisar.

He said that further action would be taken after constituting a joint committee of the National Assembly and the Senate. Chaudhry Nisar said if parliamentarians could not protect the rights of parliament’s employees they did not deserve to sit in parliament”.

According to an FIA official, Khakwani confessed that Ali summoned him in his office and asked him to issue a cheque for Rs50 million in favour of Hajji Naeem.

“I am not the only one involved in the scam. Islamabad’s deputy commissioner is also involved,” Khakwani is reported to have said. The FIA official said that Islamabad’s chief commissioner unfroze the accounts of the housing society and helped usurp the money.

However, Ali strongly rebutted the FIA’s claims. “On February 25, I was removed from my position and the society purchased the land in March,” he said.

Moreover, the PAC directed the Ministry of Interior to submit a detailed report about the issuance of 133,219 arms licenses in the last three years. The office of the Auditor-General of Pakistan informed the committee that the ministry issued 44,558 new arms licenses in 2007-2008 but that there was no record of Rs223 million in license fees.

Interior Secretary Chaudhry Qamar Zaman said that the ministry issued 133,219 licenses in three years out of which 93,446 were of non-prohibited bore and 39,973 of prohibited bore.

Online added that the interior secretary told the committee that a ban had been imposed on the issuance of fresh arms licenses from January 1 due to these malpractices.

PAC member Hamid Yar Hiraj said that the PM Secretariat, the Interior Ministry and the National Bank of Pakistan were involved in the scandal. The Interior ministry issued fake licenses out of the quota of parliamentarians, he said.a

Published in the Express Tribune, June 3^rd, 2010.