Fund embezzlement: ACE given go ahead to make arrests
111 people, including Revenue Dept assistant collectors, accused of misappropriating Rs125m.
FAISALABAD:
The Punjab government has directed the Anti Corruption Establishment (ACE) to arrest 111 people allegedly involved in the embezzlement of Rs125 million meant for the purchase of land for an industrial park in Faisalabad, The Express Tribune has learnt.
The men are two Revenue Department assistant collectors (Jhumra district), a district officer (Forests), a patwari, a former bank manager, 17 Buildings Department officials and 89 land owners. ACE officials have started raids at various areas.
ACE Regional Director (Faisalabad) Amir Ijaz Akbar said that the ACE director general had set up a joint investigation team to make the arrests. Akbar said he was supervising the team.
Assistant Director Zahid Masood Nizami, Deputy Director (Investigation) Kazim Awan and Circle Officer Faisal Aziz Gul are also part of the team.
ACE officials told The Express Tribune that fraud cases had been registered against the accused two years ago. They said judicial action on the cases was approved last week.
They said in 2008, the Revenue Department purchased land from some land owners in Sahianwala to establish an industrial park. They said the estimate of the price of the said land was being determined by former ACs Ali Bajwa and Nasrullah Chadhar and a patwari. They said that Forests Department DO Syed Akmal Rahim and Deputy District Officer Rana Amjad along with four Buildings Department officers made a wrong estimate of the trees and paid the amount to the tenants and then to the owners. They said the officers along with some local land owners embezzled Rs125.2 million in the purchase deal.
The land was later handed over to the Faisalabad Industrial Estate Development and Management Company, which first detected the alleged fraud.
Akbar, the ACE regional director, had ordered an inquiry into the matter. The inquiry was led by the assistant director, the deputy director (investigation) and the circle officer, who are also now part of the team responsible to make the arrests. They nominated the 111 men in 2010 and cases were registered against them.
After further investigations, the inquiry team forwarded an application to the district police and the Punjab government seeking permission to arrest the men nominated in the case. Last week, the Punjab government issued the arrest orders.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 28th, 2012.
The Punjab government has directed the Anti Corruption Establishment (ACE) to arrest 111 people allegedly involved in the embezzlement of Rs125 million meant for the purchase of land for an industrial park in Faisalabad, The Express Tribune has learnt.
The men are two Revenue Department assistant collectors (Jhumra district), a district officer (Forests), a patwari, a former bank manager, 17 Buildings Department officials and 89 land owners. ACE officials have started raids at various areas.
ACE Regional Director (Faisalabad) Amir Ijaz Akbar said that the ACE director general had set up a joint investigation team to make the arrests. Akbar said he was supervising the team.
Assistant Director Zahid Masood Nizami, Deputy Director (Investigation) Kazim Awan and Circle Officer Faisal Aziz Gul are also part of the team.
ACE officials told The Express Tribune that fraud cases had been registered against the accused two years ago. They said judicial action on the cases was approved last week.
They said in 2008, the Revenue Department purchased land from some land owners in Sahianwala to establish an industrial park. They said the estimate of the price of the said land was being determined by former ACs Ali Bajwa and Nasrullah Chadhar and a patwari. They said that Forests Department DO Syed Akmal Rahim and Deputy District Officer Rana Amjad along with four Buildings Department officers made a wrong estimate of the trees and paid the amount to the tenants and then to the owners. They said the officers along with some local land owners embezzled Rs125.2 million in the purchase deal.
The land was later handed over to the Faisalabad Industrial Estate Development and Management Company, which first detected the alleged fraud.
Akbar, the ACE regional director, had ordered an inquiry into the matter. The inquiry was led by the assistant director, the deputy director (investigation) and the circle officer, who are also now part of the team responsible to make the arrests. They nominated the 111 men in 2010 and cases were registered against them.
After further investigations, the inquiry team forwarded an application to the district police and the Punjab government seeking permission to arrest the men nominated in the case. Last week, the Punjab government issued the arrest orders.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 28th, 2012.