Rs22m fraud: PPP’s Qasim Zia enters plea bargain as LHC grants him bail
PPP leader offers to return Rs22 million of the defrauded amount
Qasim Zia. PHOTO: FILE
LAHORE:
A division bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday directed Pakistan Peoples Party leader Qasim Zia to pay Rs100,000 in bonds to secure his bail after he entered a plea bargain by offering to return part of the Rs100 million embezzled in a stock market fraud.
The bail came after National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) executive board on Wednesday reviewed and approved Zia’s application to voluntarily return Rs22 million of the defrauded money.
NAB had arrested Zia and Usman Saeed, director of the Ali Usman Securities, on August 8 for their alleged involvement in selling fake shares eight years ago. They were charged with cheating the public at large, misappropriation, embezzling funds and criminal breach of trust.
Later on Wednesday, Zia’s counsel argued before the LHC bench, headed by Justice Mahmood Maqbool Bajwa, that NAB was politically victimising his client by arresting him without having initiated an inquiry.
Zia argued he had distanced himself from the Ali Usman Securities in 2008 and has not borne liabilities of the company since. He thus urged the court to grant him bail.
NAB’s counsel submitted that following complaints from more than 80 victims of the Ali Usman Securities, an inquiry had been initiated against Zia leading to his arrest. He argued that they were still questioning the PPP leader about the scam hence he should not be released.
The court, after hearing arguments from both sides, granted Zia bail, setting his bond at Rs100,000.
A former president of the PPP wing in Punjab, Zia has twice been elected to the provincial assembly from PP-59 Faisalabad, first from 2002 to 2007 and then 2008 to 2013. Zia also served as the leader of the opposition during his first term in the Punjab assembly. Between 2008 and 2013, the PPP leader, a former Olympian, also served as the president of the Pakistan Hockey Federation.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 24th, 2015.
A division bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday directed Pakistan Peoples Party leader Qasim Zia to pay Rs100,000 in bonds to secure his bail after he entered a plea bargain by offering to return part of the Rs100 million embezzled in a stock market fraud.
The bail came after National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) executive board on Wednesday reviewed and approved Zia’s application to voluntarily return Rs22 million of the defrauded money.
NAB had arrested Zia and Usman Saeed, director of the Ali Usman Securities, on August 8 for their alleged involvement in selling fake shares eight years ago. They were charged with cheating the public at large, misappropriation, embezzling funds and criminal breach of trust.
Later on Wednesday, Zia’s counsel argued before the LHC bench, headed by Justice Mahmood Maqbool Bajwa, that NAB was politically victimising his client by arresting him without having initiated an inquiry.
Zia argued he had distanced himself from the Ali Usman Securities in 2008 and has not borne liabilities of the company since. He thus urged the court to grant him bail.
NAB’s counsel submitted that following complaints from more than 80 victims of the Ali Usman Securities, an inquiry had been initiated against Zia leading to his arrest. He argued that they were still questioning the PPP leader about the scam hence he should not be released.
The court, after hearing arguments from both sides, granted Zia bail, setting his bond at Rs100,000.
A former president of the PPP wing in Punjab, Zia has twice been elected to the provincial assembly from PP-59 Faisalabad, first from 2002 to 2007 and then 2008 to 2013. Zia also served as the leader of the opposition during his first term in the Punjab assembly. Between 2008 and 2013, the PPP leader, a former Olympian, also served as the president of the Pakistan Hockey Federation.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 24th, 2015.