Midas scandal: Punjab’s anti-corruption body clashes with NAB
Bureau initiates inquiry against officers of ACE who were probing the embezzlement case.
LAHORE:
A bruising back-and-forth between the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and Punjab’s Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) has surfaced after one of the principal accused involved in the multi-million Midas scandal succeeded in fleeing abroad.
Sources revealed that NAB has initiated an inquiry against the officers of Punjab’s anti-Corruption body who allegedly accused and threatened the investigation officers probing the misappropriation of Rs208.657 million by an advertisement company called Midas (Pvt) Limited.
The tussle surfaced after the bureau directed the Punjab ACE to hand over all the records pertaining to Midas’ investigation and the director general (DG) of ACE Punjab in his reply to NAB turned down the bureau’s request, sources in ACE told The Express Tribune.
ACE Punjab had registered a case against eight accused, including Inam Akbar , the CEO of Midas, on the charges of embezzlement of Rs94.386 million and Rs114.271 million in print and electronic media campaigns, respectively, pertaining to the Punjab Development Fund (PDF) Crore Patti Scheme, 2004.
The contents of the letter – under the subject: Inquiry under Section 18 (C) of the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO), 1999 against officers of ACE Punjab – which NAB issued to ACE Punjab’s DG read: “It is initiated that subject inquiry has been authorised by the competent authority on the allegations of malafide, biased investigation being conducted by ACE officers /officials in case FIR No53/12 against officers/officials of DGPR Punjab. Foregoing in view of, it is requested that the complete record collected so far by the ACE Punjab in FIR mentioned in the letter may be provided to NAB Punjab at the earliest.”
Sources revealed that one of the main accused – Abdul Majeed Shahid – has flown to Canada, while the main beneficiary, as well as principal accused Inam Akbar, the chief executive of Midas, is still at large despite cancellation of his protective bail.
According to an audit report, Punjab’s director general public relations’ (DGPR) office was involved in a scam totalling up to a whopping Rs632.59 million in fake invoices, during the tenure of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q). This amount also includes the Rs208.657 million pertaining to the PDF-Crore Patti Scheme.
To probe these misappropriations, ACE Punjab’s DG constituted a four-member special investigation team, headed by ACE Lahore Region Director Waqas Ali. Despite the case pending in the Supreme Court, the CEO of Midas and Abdul Majeed Shahid, former director coordination DGPR, have not been arrested so far.
According to the Punjab Information and Culture department, it has been involved in business with Midas from 1996 to 2007-08. During this period, Midas (Pvt) Ltd managed to get fraudulent and bogus payments worth hundreds of millions of rupees from the Punjab government on the basis of fake invoices and in collusion with some public functionaries.
Despite the fact that Midas has been blacklisted by the Punjab government, the agency not only continues to do business with the federal and the other three provincial governments with impunity, but the owner, Akbar, is also running operations under the name of other advertising agencies, sources revealed.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 1st, 2012.
A bruising back-and-forth between the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and Punjab’s Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) has surfaced after one of the principal accused involved in the multi-million Midas scandal succeeded in fleeing abroad.
Sources revealed that NAB has initiated an inquiry against the officers of Punjab’s anti-Corruption body who allegedly accused and threatened the investigation officers probing the misappropriation of Rs208.657 million by an advertisement company called Midas (Pvt) Limited.
The tussle surfaced after the bureau directed the Punjab ACE to hand over all the records pertaining to Midas’ investigation and the director general (DG) of ACE Punjab in his reply to NAB turned down the bureau’s request, sources in ACE told The Express Tribune.
ACE Punjab had registered a case against eight accused, including Inam Akbar , the CEO of Midas, on the charges of embezzlement of Rs94.386 million and Rs114.271 million in print and electronic media campaigns, respectively, pertaining to the Punjab Development Fund (PDF) Crore Patti Scheme, 2004.
The contents of the letter – under the subject: Inquiry under Section 18 (C) of the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO), 1999 against officers of ACE Punjab – which NAB issued to ACE Punjab’s DG read: “It is initiated that subject inquiry has been authorised by the competent authority on the allegations of malafide, biased investigation being conducted by ACE officers /officials in case FIR No53/12 against officers/officials of DGPR Punjab. Foregoing in view of, it is requested that the complete record collected so far by the ACE Punjab in FIR mentioned in the letter may be provided to NAB Punjab at the earliest.”
Sources revealed that one of the main accused – Abdul Majeed Shahid – has flown to Canada, while the main beneficiary, as well as principal accused Inam Akbar, the chief executive of Midas, is still at large despite cancellation of his protective bail.
According to an audit report, Punjab’s director general public relations’ (DGPR) office was involved in a scam totalling up to a whopping Rs632.59 million in fake invoices, during the tenure of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q). This amount also includes the Rs208.657 million pertaining to the PDF-Crore Patti Scheme.
To probe these misappropriations, ACE Punjab’s DG constituted a four-member special investigation team, headed by ACE Lahore Region Director Waqas Ali. Despite the case pending in the Supreme Court, the CEO of Midas and Abdul Majeed Shahid, former director coordination DGPR, have not been arrested so far.
According to the Punjab Information and Culture department, it has been involved in business with Midas from 1996 to 2007-08. During this period, Midas (Pvt) Ltd managed to get fraudulent and bogus payments worth hundreds of millions of rupees from the Punjab government on the basis of fake invoices and in collusion with some public functionaries.
Despite the fact that Midas has been blacklisted by the Punjab government, the agency not only continues to do business with the federal and the other three provincial governments with impunity, but the owner, Akbar, is also running operations under the name of other advertising agencies, sources revealed.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 1st, 2012.