SHC orders conditional release of accused involved in Fazaia Housing scheme scam

Names of accused added to ECL, accused released to enable them to return funds to affectees

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Wednesday ordered the conditional release of individuals accused of involvement in the multi-billion rupee Fazaia Housing scheme scam.

 

A two-member bench presided the hearing of the case. The SHC ordered to add the names of Tanveer Ahmed and Bilal Tanveer on the Exit Control List (ECL) till clearance certificates are obtained from the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

The court also ordered the accused to return the money to the victims within six months, which will be monitored by the NAB chairman.

"If the money is not returned within the allotted time frame, the inquiry would reopen," the court remarked. "Both the accused should be released immediately so that the refund agreement of the victims can be implemented."



The lawyer of the accused prayed upon the court that his clients want to return 80 per cent of the money to the victims.

Earlier on April 24, The Pakistan Air Force's (PAF) management and its joint venture partner, Ch Tanveer Builder of the Maxim Group, agreed to refund the claims of 6,000 allottees of the Fazaia Housing scheme, amounting to Rs16 billion with immediate effect.

The announcement came after the allottees, including the general public and armed forces personnel, were cheated by the PAF management and its partner, who illegally collected more than Rs16 billion from them, according to documents available with The Express Tribune.

The case had already been on the radar of NAB. The country’s premier graft buster had taken over an amount of Rs13.5 billion by freezing the joint venture account, one of the documents suggested.