Signboard scam: RCB official, private firm agree to cough up embezzled money

Asia Builders owner, who is in FIA custody, to return Rs6 million.

RAWALPINDI: The owner of an advertisement company and a revenue officer of the Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) have agreed to return the embezzled amount of Rs6 million to the national kitty.

Malik Anwar, the owner of Asia Builders and Anwar Gondal, Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) revenue officer were arrested on Friday and handed over to the Federal Investigation Agency on physical remand, an investigation officer told The Express Tribune.

An FIA team led by Investigation Officer Afzal Khan Niazi is investigating the scam that surfaced two weeks back.

“The arrested persons, during the course of interrogation, confessed to their crime and expressed willingness to deposit the amount in RCB account by Tuesday this week,” Niazi said.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Niazi said that the one year contract for Rs11.3 million was awarded to Asia Builders in 2009 for collecting tax from private firms for installing signboards in the cantonment area. The amount was supposed to be paid in instalments.

The investigating officer said no written agreement was signed between the cantonment officials and the company. The company started work without securing order from the cantonment board.

As per rules, the company was supposed to pay one-fourth of the total contracted amount to the cantonment board after securing the contract. The second instalment was to be paid before getting the work order.

“The company neither paid the first instalment nor paid for the work order but rather paid only Rs5 million at the end of the contract period,” said an official of the cantonment board, requesting not to be named.

The issue came to fore during the audit when the company failed to provide the agreement copy which was in fact, never signed.

Irregularity committed by the cantonment officials was that they didn’t sign a written agreement and got a work order without prior approval.

When the owner of the company was arrested, he revealed name of the revenue official.

The RCB chief executive officer is also said to be involved in the fraud. The FIA official said the cantonment board chief is in Iraq and will be interrogated upon his return.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 22^nd, 2014.