NAB files reference against ‘disappearing’ Hajj operators

Father and son accused of swindling millions from hundreds of intending pilgrims.

PESHAWAR: National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has filed two separate corruption references of Rs48 million and Rs510 million in an accountability court.

The first reference of Rs48 million was filed against Karwan-e-Hujaj Private Limited owners Muhammad Usman and Fahad Usman for allegedly cheating more than one hundred pilgrims of millions of rupees.

Both suspects were arrested on November 19, 2014 after the intending pilgrims complained the Hajj operator had vanished with their money. The suspects were accused of taking Rs430,000 per pilgrim at their office in Deans Trade Center. However, when the customers returned for their visa and passports, both men had disappeared.

It was said that the suspects not only swindled unsuspecting people, but also deprived pilgrims of the opportunity to perform Hajj. Both men are currently held at Peshawar Central Jail.



The second reference of Rs510 million was filed against former secretary of Workers Welfare Board (WWB) Tariq Awan for his alleged involvement in illegal appointments. Meanwhile, he and other officials were also accused of purchasing substandard equipment, electrical instruments, computers and refrigerators for the K-P WWB.

The accused include former project director Abdul Waheed Qureshi, Muhammad Asghar, Manzoor Ahmad Ghauri, Naeem Rabbani and Arsalan Qureshi.

Tariq Awan is accused of appointing Abdul Waheed as project director despite the fact that there was no vacant post.

NAB also stated that generators, vacuum cleaners, first-aid boxes, fans, fibre glass rooms, interactive boards, stationery, carpets, uniforms and sports gear were procured through either fake or non-registered firms. They added a contract for this purpose was awarded to a firm called Arsalan Stationers at an exorbitant rate.

The bureau’s chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry approved the filing of the reference against Tariq Awan and other officers during a meeting in Islamabad on February 23.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 8^th, 2015.