Alleged embezzlement: FIA summons Urdu university staffers for quizzing

Staffers claim five colleagues innocent, accuse VC of making them scapegoats.

ISLAMABAD: Two of the five suspended Federal Urdu University of Arts, Sciences and Technology (FUUAST) Islamabad campus staffers accused of involvement in a Rs150 million embezzlement scam have been summoned by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

The FIA has summoned the deputy registrar of the varsity and the VC’s personal secretary on Wednesday. In August, the VC, who sits in the Karachi campus, forwarded the names and details of the accusers to the FIA for in-depth investigation and to fend off the accusations of taking sides and attempting to influence the probe.

Meanwhile, protests on campus by a group of employees against vice-chancellor Dr Zafar Iqbal over the “illegal” suspension of their colleagues continued.

The protesting staffers are of the view that the VC has “suspended innocent people” to avoid naming the actual embezzlers.

Protests at the Islamabad campus have been running for over a month-and-a-half from 9am to 1pm every day. The protests include boycott of official work, which is taking a toll on the whole varsity, with students bearing the brunt of the pain.

Other issues for the protesters include the alleged mismanagement and corruption of the VC, a lull in construction work at the Islamabad campus, and non-provision of medical facilities to employees.

Amid sloganeering, speakers said instead of taking notice of the mismanagement, the VC dismissed three employees and stopped salaries for several others.

They also claim the VC regularised 19 FUUAST Karachi campus employees, something they have been demanding for the Islamabad campus, but to no avail.

They also requested that the President of Pakistan, who is also the university’s chancellor, and the Higher Education Commission chairman take notice of the issue as no action has been taken against anyone in the last few months.

When President Mamnoon Hussain took action and established a committee to probe the issue, the VC approached the Sindh High Court, arguing that the body was illegal, and got a stay order.

Since reports emerged of a Rs150 million scam at the university’s Islamabad campus, the top management has spent much of its time passing the buck to other employees.

The money was allegedly transferred from a university account to a private one and then ‘invested’ in some private businesses, all of which purportedly occurred without the knowledge of the top management.

According to university sources, after learning of the illegal account, the VC set up an inquiry committee headed by newly-appointed campus in charge Lt Gen (retired) Shahid Aziz.

Five university employees involved in opening the bank account were suspended based on the inquiry report. But the VC later reconstituted the committee by removing Aziz for unspecified reasons.

The deputy registrar said they had just received the FIA letter to appear before a probe body and nothing was mentioned about the meeting agenda.

Campus In-charge Abdur Razzaq Memon told The Express Tribune that the protesters thought there was nothing to the corruption allegations but the summonses from the FIA proved that some fishy business did take place. “Let the committee decide and end this saga,” he remarked.

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