NICL scandal: Assets of three accused seized

NA panel asks for detailed progress report.


Asad Kharal July 01, 2012

LAHORE:


The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has completed the confiscation of assets of three offenders wanted in the multi-billion rupee National Insurance Company Limited (NICL) scandal.


Official documents reveal that the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Commerce has also asked for a detailed update on the investigation plan.

A meeting of the committee will be held on July 3, under the chairmanship of MNA Engineer Khurram Dastagir.

The deputy directors of FIA Lahore and Karachi, Basharat Mehmood Shahzad and Altaf Hussain, will appear before the panel with a progress report of the Punjab and Sindh chapters of the case, sources told The Express Tribune.

The FIA completed confiscating the assets of Mohsin Habib Warraich, son of former state minister for defence production Major (retd) Habibullah Warraich, and former directors on the NICL board Amin Qasim Dada and Javed Syed.

Four assets owned by Mohsin were confiscated, including two houses and two plots in Lahore.

Syed’s house in Islamabad and a car were confiscated, while a house in Karachi owned by Dada was also confiscated.

The assets were taken over upon the FIA’s request under Section 88 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, according to official documents.

Mohsin is alleged to have sold a piece of land for nearly twice its actual price to the NICL.

The total liable amount owed is Rs420 million. His uncle provided 10 post-dated cheques of Rs42 million each earlier this year, but the first of these cheques bounced.

The three wanted men had escaped abroad as soon as the NICL scandal surfaced. Despite the FIA having contacted Interpol, the extradition of these individuals has so far remained unsuccessful.

The FIA also sent a reminder to the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) in the UK, requesting more information about the accounts of Mohsin and Chaudry Moonis Elahi.

The SOCA, however, replied saying they could only act in accordance with UK laws and would provide information about the men accordingly.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 1st, 2012.

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