Weapons scam: NAB says former CM’s brother, controller received kickbacks

Haider Hoti’s brother Ghazan, and CM House controller were allegedly bribed by Ghazan’s brother-in-law.

PESHAWAR:

An accountability court was informed on Friday that Raza Ali Khan, brother-in-law of former chief minister (CM) Amir Haider Hoti’s brother Ghazan Hoti, provided Rs65 million to Ghazan and Rs130 million to the CM House controller, Akbar Durrani, as kickbacks in the weapons and equipment procurement scam.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa produced Raza in the accountability court to get his remand extended by 14 days but the plea was turned down and the court sent the accused to Central jail Peshawar on a 14-day judicial remand.



Special Prosecutor Lajbar Khan and Investigation Officer Inayat Khan told the court that as a middle man in the Rs7 billion scam, Raza gave the said amounts to Ghazan and Akbar to clear all hindrances in the procurement of weapons and other equipment during the tenure of IGP Malik Naveed from 2008 to 2010.

They further said Abdul Qayum, a furniture dealer in Karachi, recorded his statement in the court of judicial magistrate Muhammad Ilyas Khan three days ago and confessed that even though the bulletproof jackets were offered at a cost of Rs45,000 each, they were still bought for Rs55,000.



The court was informed further that during the doling out of the contract, Raza had exchanged several emails with some influential people regarding kickbacks and the removal of legal and other hindrances. NAB officials said they are investigating the emails exchanged and tracing the money earned which has since been invested in various businesses since.

The judicial remand of IGP Naveed, arrested on November 20 last year, was extended for 14 days on Thursday by the accountability court. Niaz Ali Shah, former adviser to then CM Hoti, was also arrested on January 6 but released after he returned Rs20 million under the ‘voluntary return’ system. NAB has accused Naveed of misappropriating Rs360 million out of Rs1.82 billion and turned down his request of paying back Rs80 million to stop further proceedings against him.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 1^st, 2014.