Ashiana Housing: Three accused of embezzlement granted bail

Complainants claim the contractors cheated them out of their share.

LAHORE:

An additional district and sessions judge on Wednesday granted pre-arrest bail to three people until November 23. They are accused of embezzling Rs23 million from Ashiana Quaid Housing Scheme.

Abdur Rehman had filed a case against Abdul Hafeez Malik, Muhammad Asif, Muhammad Tariq, Riaz and Khalid with Nishtar Colony police under Section 406 of the Pakistan Penal Code (criminal breach of trust). Rehman, the owner of a construction company, said he had entered an agreement with the nominated persons to construct 150 houses in Ashiana Quaid Housing Scheme. He said construction began on August 5, 2011, but the men cheated him out of the money he should have received.



Abdul Hafeez Malik, M Tariq and M Asif filed bail petitions stating that they had been implicated in a false case.

In another case, petitioner Mumtaz Hussain sought the registration of a case against six contractors of Ashiana Quaid Housing Scheme for embezzling Rs13.7 million.

Hussain, a government contractor, said he had been in the construction business for 10 years. He said he had entered an agreement with Khalid, Hafeez Malik, Riaz, Asif, Muhammad Tariq and Muhammad Sohail in July regarding the construction of 100 houses in Ashiana Quaid Housing Scheme.

He said the men had opened accounts in several banks and embezzled the amount. Hussain also said the men had sublet the work to someone else without informing him.

He said the men had occupied four of the 40 houses he had constructed for Ashiana Quaid Housing Scheme. He accused them of holding accounts in various banks and defrauding investors.

He told the court the men had also threatened to kill him. He asked the court to direct the police to register a case against the men and to recover their computer records.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 7^th, 2013.