Phoney calling cards land former director of private firm in jail

NAB arrested the accused for cheating public, tax fraud and embezzlement.

KARACHI:

A former director of Callmate Ltd, Nadeem Ahmed Sheikh advocate, facing charges of issuing fake calling cards and embezzlement of more than two billion rupees, was sent to jail on judicial remand by an accountability court on Saturday.

Arshan Noor Khan, administrative judge for Accountability Courts in Karachi, remanded Sheikh to judicial custody in Central Jail, Karachi till July 10.

Sheikh, owner of Ahmed & Law Associates, was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Sindh on Friday on non-bailable warrants issued by the Accountability Court No IV Karachi in a NAB reference.

NAB initiated the probe on the complaint of the management of Callmate who took over the company from the former directors on the basis of major shareholding.

The new management alleged that the said directors had cheated the public by issuing calling cards worth Rs120 million, which were not activated and the amount was not reimbursed to the buyers. The accused also cheated PTCL, PTA, and FBR of Rs2 billion, siphoned Rs2 billion abroad on the pretext of phoney sales and misused company funds for purchasing properties worth Rs500 million from unnamed sellers.

Seven people stand accused in the case, two ex-directors Hassan Jameel and Nadeem Ahmed Sheikh are in jail, while another ex-director Ajmal Ansari is on protective bail from Lahore High Court and the rest are still absconding, NAB said.

According to NAB officials, the arrest was made when Sheikh was trying to flee the country.

Sheikh’s family contradicted the allegation, and said that he never tried to leave the country.

Sheikh was arrested during a raid on his residence in DHA. His nephew Kashif Sheikh said that his uncle was a victim of a greater conspiracy and demanded a transparent inquiry into the case.

Karachi Bar Association president Mohammad Aqil also condemned the arrest and said that the NAB should prove Sheikh guilty first and then arrest him.

Published In The Express Tribune, June 17^th, 2012.