Hajj scam: Accused deported from Saudi Arabia after four years, FIA tells SC

Faiz is under 14 days remand

ISLAMABAD: Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Friday informed the Supreme Court that an accused in the Hajj scam has been deported from Saudi Arabia at the culmination of four years of effort.  

This was stated in a report submitted to the Supreme Court by the FIA, which said Ahmed Faiz had been deported and was on 14 days remand. The report has been submitted in compliance with the order passed by a three-member bench apex court headed by former chief justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on December 6, 2013, in the Hajj scam case.

A senior FIA official confirmed to The Express Tribune that Faiz, a building supervisor, had been deported from Saudi Arabia and had been remanded for 14 days.

Faiz is one of the main accused involved in 2010 Hajj scam and FIA was working for last four years for his deportation.

The court, in its verdict, had observed that Pakistan is a sovereign state and the government is bound by its authority to ensure that any person involved in a criminal case should be brought to the country to be prosecuted under the principal rule of law.

The court had also asked the government to agitate United Nations Convention on elimination of corruption to Saudi authorities for extradition of Faiz.

The FIA report further reveals that a notice was published in an Urdu-language newspaper in Saudi Arabia through the ministry of religious affairs, offering a reward of Rs1 million for providing any information leading to Ahmed Faiz’s arrest.

The report adds that Faiz went into hiding after hearing of court proceedings against him in Pakistan and planned to move to Taif or Riyadh. The report claims that prior to his arrest, an incident of ‘dramatic interception and escape’ was reported by the Intelligence Bureau (IB).

“On June 23, 2014, while Ahmad Faiz was trying to shift his residence to some other place, a group of four persons (two Pakistanis and two Saudis) intercepted his vehicle and took him forcibly to an unknown location,” the report says.

According to the FIA, the four-member gang – including Faiz’s son-in-law – was interested in claiming the reward offered  by the government of Pakistan or to receive ransom from his family.

“However, Faiz’s sons managed to track down the abductors. They attacked the hiding place, accompanied by up to 25 other Pakistanis, and freed Faiz,” the report added.