Ex-chairman (EOBI) Zafar Gondal. PHOTO: PID
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Punjab Chapter is seeking arrest warrants of the Employees Old Age Benefits Institution (EOBI) ex-chairman Zafar Gondal for his alleged involvement in shadowy real estate investments.
According to the FIA report available with The Express Tribune, the agency, with the help of local police, conducted an unsuccessful raid on Gondal’s native house situated in Gojra district, Mandi Bahauddin. It is thought that the ex-EOBI chief has already fled the country.
Shifting of accused
Special Judge (Central) Sindh has declined the FIA request to shift the two detained accused – director general investment, Wahid Khursheed Kanwar, and convener of investment committee, Iqbal Dawood Pakwala – to Punjab.
Both the accused, admitted to hospital at the moment, were arrested in cases registered with the FIA, Karachi. The FIA Punjab Chapter team had approached the Court of the Special Judge Central Sindh to seek their transfer to Lahore to make formal arrest in cases registered with FIA Lahore.
After their request was declined, the FIA Lahore has approached Sindh High Court against the verdict of the Special Judge (Central) Sindh.
The FIA Punjab has register seven cases against the former EOBI chairman, DG investment, director investment, members of the Investment committee and board of trustees, a valuator, other concerned officials and sellers of the properties.
Accused deposits money
Nawaz Ahmed Minhas, seller of a property titled Faqeer Plaza Hotel, had deposited two cheques amounting to a total of Rs286 million as the price of the property which has been received from the EOBI.
A team also visited Pak Pattan to unearth the properties owned and acquired by Wahid Khursheed, another accused who is already under arrest. According to revenue record and report of the district coordination officer (DCO), Pak Pattan, no property has been found registered in the name of Wahid Khursheed or his family.
According to sources, the FIA has also acquired the call detail records (CDR) of a few numbers which are under scrutiny with the forensic expert of FIA Punjab.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 27th, 2013.
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When Mr Gondal was a suspect, why was his ñame not put on ECL ? the whole system is so corrupt that many suspects have already fled ? and nobody is bothered to bring change in the system to STOP high profile people fleeing away....p
In developed countries, a person is kept under strict surviellance, after collecting evidences against him under shroud of secrecy....then when incriminating evidence is collected, same is shared with the prosecutors who obtains warrant of arrest, only then that person is detained...till then the issue is not shared with the media lést the accused runs away from the country, but it is opposite in Pakistán, media créates so much hype of the scam even though the case is in court and when time nears to arrest the acussed, he is reported to have fled away.....in which era are we living in ? what i do not understand is the level of intelectual capacity we literate people have.....we do not talk of the change we need to bring in the legal system and the rule of law....