LAHORE: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has arrested the manager of a firm owned by Chaudhry Moonis Elahi, son of former Punjab chief minister Parvaiz Elahi, in connection with the Rs2.75 billion National Insurance Company Limited (NICL) scam, The Express Tribune learnt on Monday.
An FIA team raided the offices of At-Tahur (Pvt) Limited in the Garden Town neighbourhood of Lahore and arrested its manager Abdul Malik on charges of opening a fake bank account and withdrawing over Rs300 million.
The key accused in the NICL scam – Mohsin Warraich, the son of former state minister for defence production major (retired) Habibullah Warraich – is considered to be a close friend of Chaudhry Moonis Elahi, sources said.
The amount, deposited by the NICL for purchasing properties owned by the Privilege Farm Pvt Ltd and the other owned by Mohsin Habib Warraich, was transferred from a Dubai Islamic Bank account.
Without naming anyone, Abdul Malik told The Express Tribune that the amount was handed over to some other individuals. The accused denied having any account in his name from which the amount was withdrawn.
On Monday, former federal health minister Naseer Khan, the father-in-law of Mohsin Warraich, met FIA’s director in Punjab Zafar Ahmad Qureshi and handed over cheques for Rs80.4 million and Rs13.3 million, respectively.
Interestingly, the arrest was made just after the meeting.
A post-dated cheque for Rs80.4 million in the name of NICL by the accused was also handed over to FIA investigators, which is to be cashed up to December 31.
So in this way the FIA Punjab chapter has ensured all liable recovery from the accused in the NICL scam involving an amount of Rs2.75 billion regarding two land purchase deals.
Responding to the FIA action, Chaudhry Moonis Elahi, who is a member of the Punjab Assembly, said that this action shows that the PML-N and the PPP are hand in glove.
The Q-League would stand firm in the face of political victimisation, he said, adding that it would not be deterred by such tactics.
PML-Q’s Information Secretary Senator Kamil Ali Agha told reporters that the Chaudhry brothers were not linked with the NICL scam in any way.
Accusing the federal government of taking the action at the behest of the Punjab government, he said that such tactics would be counterproductive.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 28th, 2010.
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Contradictory statements: FIA zeroes in on TI Pakistan chief Agency officials believe TI Pakistan chairman Syed Adil Gilani was in touch with Amin Dada. PHOTO: APP
ISLAMABAD: Federal investigators have tightened the noose around Transparency International Pakistan chairman Adil Gilani after they gathered credible information that he was secretly in touch with absconding National Insurance Company Ltd board member Qasim Amin Dada.
Gilani has been summoned to appear before the inquiry officer in Lahore before January 10 after a series of contradictions were found in the statement he had earlier submitted to the agency.
Earlier Zafar Ahmad Qureshi, director of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in Lahore, reprimanded Gilani for claiming some credit for the recovery of Rs1.6 billion from the main accused in the multi-billion rupee NICL scam.
Disputing the claim in a written response, Qureshi said the recovery was only made possible through Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and his backing for the investigators.
Gilani confirmed in a written statement to the FIA Lahore that Amin Dada and NICL finance director Zahoor had visited the TI-Pakistan office and had held a meeting with them. But he did not say why Dada had visited the office and what sort of discussions had taken place between them. NICL chairman Ayaz Khan Niazi and three board members in their statements to the FIA had alleged that after this meeting, Dada had brought an offer from Gilani to sign an MoU in exchange for a clean bill from him on their past deals.
Gilani drew more suspicion in the minds of the investigators when he used classified information – privy only to Dada – in his response to a set of questions, 22 in all, posed by the FIA director. After going over his responses, the FIA authorities came to the conclusion that Gilani was secretly in touch with the absconding NICL board member.
When Gilani told the FIA that Dada had quit the NICL board, the agency wanted to know how he knew this since neither its ex-chairman nor the commerce ministry were aware of that.
Subsequently the FIA bosses informed him that they were under the impression that he did not want to assist the investigation. Gilani has been told that he was being summoned in the light of statements of ex-chairman Ayaz Khan Niazi and three members of the board who had accused Dada of carrying an offer from TI.
Gilani was reminded that he had himself confirmed in an earlier statement that he did not know any NICL board members, including Niazi and had never met them or visited the NICL offices. Yet, the FIA officials pointed out, Gilani had admitted that Amin Dada and Zahoor had visited TI Pakistan and met him.
The FIA asked him that in the statement he had written that Dada had submitted his contentions to the FIA in which he did not state that TI Pakistan had asked him to get an MoU signed with the NICL. The agency wanted to know how he knew about what Dada had dispatched to the FIA when the man was still at large. “Are you still in touch with him?” the agency officials asked Gilani.
He has also been asked to explain one of his interviews with an English newspaper in which he had claimed that since the matter of a 803-kanal plot of land bought by NICL was in the Supreme Court, how could he have given the NICL a clean bill since it was already taken up by the apex court.Investigation : More questions for Transparency chief
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has sent a second set of questionnaire to Chairman Transparency International (TI), Pakistan chapter, Syed Adil Gilani in the Rs5.9 billion National Insurance Company Limited (NICL) scam, The Express Tribune has learnt.
FIA Punjab Director Zafar Ahmad Qureshi has sent the second questionnaire to the TI Pakistan chief by post requesting an answer to the 18 questions at the earliest.
The FIA would like him to answer some new questions that have come up during the course of the investigation and further clarifications to clear up some ambiguities for the investigation team.
The FIA decided to include Gilani in the investigation after former NICL chairman, Ayyaz Niazi, implicated him in his confessional statement.
Three NICL board members have corroborated Niazi’s statement that their absconding colleague, Amin Qasim Dada, had offered to mediate on behalf of TI.
Subsequently, Director FIA contacted Adil Gilani for his side of the story. At Gilan’si refusal to travel to Lahore, the FIA sent him a list of 22 questions.
The counsel for the TI chief, Rana Asadullah Advocate has confirmed they were formulating replies for the second set of questions.
“As Gilani had pointed out the monetary misappropriation in NICL deals, the FIA should not harass his client while investigating the matter,” he said while talking to The Express Tribune.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 29th, 2010.
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NICL scam: Investigators reluctant to question top bureaucrats
The Supreme Court rejects the investigation report provided by the FIA.
LAHORE: Investigators are yet to question two top bureaucrats – the federal commerce and interior secretaries – and some other influentials allegedly involved in the Rs5.36 billion National Insurance Company Limited (NICL) scam, The Express Tribune learnt on Sunday.
A three-member bench of the Supreme Court, headed by the Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, is hearing the case.
The FIA teams from Punjab and Sindh are likely to submit reports in five cases related to the scam on Monday. Officials of both teams are learnt to have arrived in Islamabad.
A two-member team from Karachi has also reached Islamabad from Dubai on Monday.
Federal Commerce Secretary Zafar Mehmood appeared before the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Commerce in the first quarter of 2010 when it was alleged that the NICL management had committed misappropriation in the purchase of properties in Lahore, Karachi and Dubai. The committee had directed the secretary to independently evaluate the properties without consulting or involving the NICL management and submit its report.
According to the secretary commerce’s evaluation, the price paid by the NICL for these three properties was much less than their market value and he did not find any fault with the purchases.
When the matter was considered closed, the apex court took suo motu action and the same secretary registered cases as a complainant, instead of being nominated as an accused because he had earlier cleared three of these transactions.
Sources said that despite knowing this, FIA appeared to be reluctant to question the commerce secretary.
These three deals/transactions had been declared transparent by the federal Commerce Secretary Zafar Mehmood and this matter was closed by the National Assembly’s standing committee in April 2010 after the commerce ministry determined that the NICL had paid much below the prevailing market prices for the three properties.
When the apex court took suo motu notice in one of the five transactions, the commerce secretary deliberately concealed the fact that in fact it was him who had actually cleared the NICL purchases. And because of this, an alleged accused has become a complainant in these transactions. Federal Secretary for Interior Qamaruz Zaman Chaudhry is also said to be involved in these deals because he was a member of the NICL’s board of directors, sources said.Published in The Express Tribune, January 10th, 2011.
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Corruption charges: Transparency International chief faces yet another probe
Complaint lodged with the FIA says Adil Gilani’s past is full of wrongdoings.
LAHORE: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has initiated another inquiry against chairman of the Pakistan chapter of the Transparency International Syed Adil Gilani, The Express Tribune learnt reliably on Wednesday.
According to contents of a complaint lodged by Abdul Wahid, Chief Executive of the Far East Oriental Trading Company (Pvt) Ltd addressed to Director FIA, Punjab:
“Adil Gilani’s past is chequered with massive wrongdoings and allegations of fraud … while he was (working as) a government employee. We take this opportunity to shed light on the not-so-respectful past of the chairman of the Transparency International Pakistan. (He) was a government servant working in the Karachi Development Authority and was involved in massive frauds, including the award of construction contract for the FTC building in Karachi.”
The letter said that when pressure from investigating agencies became unbearable, he absconded to Africa where he remained for a considerable period.
After matters settled down, he returned to Pakistan and joined Karachi Port Trust (KPT). Even during his stint at the KPT, Gilani was “reprimanded numerous times and actively investigated for corruption charges by the FIA and NAB”.
“The most glaring case of corruption by Adil Gilani was that of the privatisation of KPT assets.”
“Gilani served as a project manager in KPT for many years and was also associated with the privatisation of a port-related project which was later to become Pakistan International Container Terminal (PICT). One of the companies bidding for this project was Premier Mercantile Services Ltd which was owned by Captain (retd) Haleem Siddiqui, Gilani being the project manager, had in-depth knowledge of this project as well as access to the confidential bidding information of all the various bidding parties.
Subsequently he worked as a “consultant” with leading business houses of Pakistan, and met Qasim Ameen Dada.
“Furthermore, Gilani goes out of his way to protect a construction interest of a certain influential group. He even went out of his way to utilise the platform of Transparency International to file a lawsuit against Emaar Giga Karchi Limited, which secured a huge construction project by outdoing/outcompeting the influential group.”
The letter further alleged that through TIP, Adil Gilani got himself “embedded in all major government institutions on the pretext of promoting transparency whereby he initially threatened and acted against responsible government officials by publishing (negative) articles and news reports.
After (running) a strong smear campaign, Gilani would offer to clear government officers and their departments as long as they signed a memorandum of understanding with Transparency International, allowing Gilani to become the de facto approver of government bids. He would, therefore, collude with the highest bidder and get terms of the bidding (contract) in (his) favour.”
“By using this model, Gilani (was able to) penetrate into various government organisations like PIA, KPT, TDAP and many others. Under the guise of transparency, he hijacked government offices and is exercising blatant and wholesale corruption.
A case in point of this modus operandi has been in the TDAP’s award of the contract to design, build and operate the Pakistan Pavilion at Expo 2010, Shanghai.”
Published in The Express Tribune, January 13th, 2011.
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NICL scam: SC seeks complete record of Qureshi's suspension
Published: July 6, 2011
Qureshi was suspended on July 4 for second time on cases of suspicion.
LAHORE: The Supreme Court (SC) summoned the attorney general on Wednesday to present the complete record of suspension of Federal Investigative Agency (FIA) Additional Director Zafar Qureshi who was investigating the multi-billion-rupee National Insurance Company Limited (NICL) scam.
Qureshi was suspended as the lead investigator in the case on July 4 for the second time on cases of suspicion. He was earlier removed as a number of high-profile names surfaced in the investigations, but the SC soon ordered his restoration.
The court also ordered the attorney general to produce a record of the four FIA officials who were transferred by the government to different places at the same time when Qureshi was reinstated. These officers were investigating the case initially and the government transferred them in a bid to separate them from the process.
The hearing was adjourned till Thursday.
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NICL investigations: Judge refuses to hear case
Published: July 5, 2011
The court directed the manager of Moonis Elahi to record his statement again which resulted in a heated debate. PHOTO: PPI
The Banking Court Judge refused to hear NICL scam case against Moonis Elahi following a heated exchange with his counsels.
During the hearing, Moonis Elahi’s lawyers presented their argument on the acquittal request that was earlier filed under section 249-A.
The court directed Abdul Malik, the manager of Moonis Elahi, to record his statement again.
However, this was objected to by the lawyers of Moonis Elahi.
Court Judge Abdul Rasheed asserted that the court has a right to ask for any statement if required.
This resulted in a heated debate between the lawyers and the judge that continued for three and a half hours.
The judge then refused to hear the case and referred it to the Lahore High Court.
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NICL investigations: Probe chief returns to an empty office
By Asad Kharal
Published: July 3, 2011
FIA transfers 4 members of investigation team; Qureshi takes charge of his post, asks for them to be transferred back.
LAHORE:
On the same day that the Supreme Court reinstated Zafar Qureshi as the lead investigator of the National Insurance Company Ltd fraud, four members of his team at the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), who have been with the investigation since the beginning, have been transferred off the case.
In what appears to be a bid to create as much physical distance as possible between the four team members and Qureshi’s office in Lahore, the officers have been transferred to posts in Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Syed Javed Hussain Shah has been transferred to the FIA office in Dera Ismail Khan, Muhammad Ahmed Chaudhry to Turbat, Khalid Anees to Peshawar and Chaudhry Sarwar to Gwadar.
The orders were reportedly issued late on Friday, after the Supreme Court ordered Qureshi’s reinstatement as lead investigator in the NICL case. The orders bear the signature of FIA Administration Director Inam Ghani. All four officers have been notified that they were relieved from their current posts with immediate effect and have already left charge of their duties in the NICL case, sources familiar with the matter told The Express Tribune. The four officers were part of Qureshi’s team that uncovered the Rs320 million fraud at the NICL involving several leading politicians, including Punjab Assembly member Moonis Elahi, son of Pakistan Muslim League Quaid (PML-Q) leader and former Punjab Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi.
Qureshi himself, meanwhile, has taken charge of his old position following a Supreme Court order on Friday that reinstated him as lead investigator into the NICL scam. Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani had reportedly refused to reinstate him to the position.
On his first day back, Qureshi has written letters to acting FIA Director General Syed Tahseen Anwar Shah and the interior secretary, asking them to withdraw the transfer orders of his team members. Copies of both letters were sent to the Supreme Court registrar.
Meanwhile, Moonis Elahi on Friday filed a petition with the banking court, requesting an acquittal, arguing that the prosecution’s key witnesses have said nothing that would incriminate him.
Earlier, eight prosecution witnesses, recording their statements before Magistrate Irfan Basra, denied giving any statement to the FIA and said that Elahi had nothing to do with the fraudulent financial transactions that were being investigated.
Muhammad Maalik, a manager at one of the companies owned by Elahi, had initially told the FIA that he had opened an account on behalf of his boss, Moonis. However, he later retracted that statement and the eight witnesses called in by the magistrate also refused to corroborate the earlier story by Maalik.
Javed Shah, one of Qureshi’s team members, sent a letter to the FIA director general requesting action against the witnesses who retracted their statements, but the FIA chief has yet to move forward on the matter.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 3rd, 2011.
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SC suspends inquiry against Qureshi, cancels transfers
* Court directs FIA DG to reverse transfer orders of Qureshi’s team immediately
* Says it may appoint a retired SC or HC judge to probe into suspension of Qureshi
By Hasnaat Malik
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court, on Thursday, suspended the departmental inquiry against Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Additional Director General Zafar Ahmad Qureshi and ordered immediate reversal of the transfer of the members of his investigation team.
The court directed the agency’s director general to reverse the transfer orders of the members of investigation team of Qureshi immediately and post them to their earlier places, pending decision of the matter. A three-judge bench, comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani and Justice Khilji Arif Hussain, was hearing a suo motu case of the suspension of Qureshi.
In its order, the bench observed, “Prima facie, we (judges) are of the opinion that transfer of four FIA officials – deputy director Javed Hussain, assistant director Muhammad Ahmed, assistant director Khalid Anees, inspector Muhammad Sarwar – had taken place in order to undermine the authority of the court and to influence the course of investigation.”
As per news reports, Qureshi had been suspended following a meeting between Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid leaders and the prime minister.
“As political intervention had been started in the court’s functioning, the attorney general of Pakistan (AGP) was directed to take instructions from the government by July 13 regarding the said news items,” the bench said.
“We have informed him (the AGP) that this is a very grave and serious matter and has its own repercussions and that the court, otherwise, would be appointing some retired judge of the apex court or high court to probe into the matter, record evidence and thereafter would give findings,” the bench said in the order.he asked the AGP. Further hearing was adjourned until July 13.
Appearing before the bench, AGP Anwarul Haq submitted the record of Qureshi’s suspension and transfer of the four FIA officers. Justice Chaudhry asked the AGP to tell the government that the court would not comprise on its dignity. “Your prestige is linked with the dignity of the black coat and you must have respect for the institutions,”
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2008-till date
Member Profile
Mrs. Samina Khawar Hayat
W-354
Current Posts Member: Culture and Youth Affairs
Academic Qualifications B.B.A
Profession(s) Social Worker
Party Affiliation Pakistan Muslim League (See other MPAs of this party)
Email saminakhawar@hotmail.com
Father's/Husband's Name Khawar Hayat
Marital Status Married
Children 3
Place of Birth Lahore
Permanent Contact
(a) H.No.20-C-II, Gulberg-III, Lahore.
(b) Bagar Kot, Gas wali Gali, Kasur.
Phone:
042-35753462, 042-35713425 (Res), 0303-7770600, 0300-8456161
Relatives in present or past assemblies
Relationship Name Parliament Period
Father-in-Law Ch. Muhammad Hayat Provincial Assembly of the Punjab 1977
Personal Career & Interests Mrs Samina Khawar Hayat wife of Mr Khawar Hayat was born in Lahore. She obtained the degree of BBA in 2004 from Riphah International University, Islamabad. She served as Chairperson, Quality Assurance and Education Department during 2005-08. She has been elected as Member, Provincial Assembly of the Punjab in general elections 2008 against one of the seats reserved for women. She has travelled to UK, USA, Canada, France, Dubai and Saudi Arabia. Her father-in-law, Ch Muhammad Hayat remained a Member of Punjab Assembly during 1988-90.
Religion Islam
Mrs.†Samina Khawar Hayat
W-354
Current Posts Member: Culture and Youth Affairs
Academic Qualifications B.B.A
Profession(s) Social Worker
Party Affiliation Pakistan Muslim League
Father's/Husband's Name Khawar Hayat
Marital Status Married
Children 3
Place of Birth Lahore
Relatives in present or past assemblies
Relationship Name Parliament Period
Father-in-Law Ch. Muhammad Hayat Provincial Assembly of the Punjab 1977
Religion Islam
http://pakistanherald.com/Program/Tonight-with-Jasmeen-February-15-2011-Jasmeen-Manzoor-6378
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Shahkur Ullah Durrani
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
((Infobox officeholder |name = Shahkir Ullah Durrani |office = Governor State Bank Of Pakistan
Shahkir Ullah Durrani (S.U.) was an Afghan/Pakistani International Banker and Entrepreneur originally from the Pashtun Popalzai tribe. This tribe is a branch of the Sadozai line of Ahmad Shah Durrani, who was the first royal in Afghanistan's history after its formation in the 18th century.
Contents
[hide]
1 Background & Rise
2 Political Era
3 Return to Pakistan
4 Turning the Corner
5 End days
6 See also
[edit] Background & Rise
Durrani was born in Sheikh Kali, an Afghan settlement in Charsada, NWFP, British India in the late 1910s. Although not much is known about his youth, he was the son of a military man; a soldier who fought in the Mesopatamian Regiment either for the Axis or Allies during World War 1. It is known that S.U. Durrani was an officer in the Pakistani Army and served in their special forces accomplishing the grueling, infamous Gurkan expedition. He was also a brilliant student and topped his classes at the University of Peshawer earning a degree in Economics. In the early 1960s Captain SU Durrani was assigned ADC to Malik Amir Mohammad Khan the so called 'Nawab of Kalabagh', a large landowner, who was Governor of West Pakistan. There he met Samina Hyat, the daughter of Nawabzada Liaquat Hayat Khan of Wah and his second wife Shamshad the daughter of an ex Prime Minister of Patiala State in India, whose position of Prime Minister was subsequenly taken over by Nawabzada Sir Liaquat Hyat Khan. Samina at this time was married to Nawabzada Hebat Ali Khan of Tank, the Nawab of Tank in the NWFP. Afterwards Samina divorced her husband and married Captain SU Durrani. From that time onwards, Shakirullah Durrani's career shot skywards. Through his powerfully well connected in laws, SU Durrani was posted at the Lloyds Bank in England. After some years there, he returned home to be appointed as Managing Director (CEO) of the newly set up NIT - the National Investment Trust - that was a government owned mutual fund developing the capital markets in Pakistan.
[edit] Political Era
It was the era of President (General) Ayub Khan and the Hayat family of Wah were part of the inner circle of the military government in Pakistan that had come to power in a coup in 1958. Along with other military families, the Durranis also acquired contacts and wealth in that government. In late 1969 General Ayub Khan lost power and another military dictator took over. SU Durrani was moved first to PICIC, another government owned bank and then to head the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) as chairman. Although acquiring a reputation for professional dynamism and important contacts in the establishment, like the military government he served, his days were numbered. In 1971 he was appointed Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan but when the military government lost a disastrous war against India in December, SU Durrani's meteoric rise was over. The next year, the democratic government dismissed him. As he had also married a second wife—Mrs Rehman who was his secretary at the State Bank—the support he was able to get from his in laws of his first wife (to whom he was still married) was diminished. However, the marriage to second wife did not last long and she was divorced in early 1990s. Using still powerful contacts that he developed while serving as Governor State Bank of Pakistan, he joined Citibank in New York in mid 1970s where he worked before trying to set up an investment bank in London. He also tried his hand at a venture in Canada. Both ended in failure.
[edit] Return to Pakistan
In 1977 a military government again seized power in Pakistan and a few years later, SU Durrani set up two industrial projects in Pakistan. One was the National Fructose Company Limited (NFCL) at Hub Chowki near Karachi. The other, Frontier ceramics was set up at Charsadda, his home village, near Peshawar. Neither project worked well and suffered from ongoing teething problems with huge loan overruns running into hundreds of millions of rupees. He appointed Humayun Murad, a Chartered Accountant with whom he had been associated in the UK, to run National Fructose. The project was unable to break even but continued to run with large cash infusions from government owned banks.
[edit] Turning the Corner
Finally in the mid 1980s, Bankers Equity Limited (BEL) arranged a joint venture between him and a large Japanese leasing company --- Orient Leasing (later renamed ORIX). BEL took 25% equity;the Japanese took 40%; Durrani's business partner took 4% with Durrani taking the rest (31%). SU Durrani was appointed Chairman of the Orient Leasing Pakistan Limited (OLP) with Humayun Murad as General Manager and his nominee. The Japanese managed the company till 1990, when the company went public. The Japanese directors took up assignments in Europe with the 43year old Humayun Murad appointed as Managing Director (CEO). The Japanese company retained a 40% shareholding in OPL. 11% of the company was owned by the general public. In 1991 Orient leasing changed its name globally to Orix. Amongst many notable achievements he is co-founder of Royal Jordanian Airlines.
For a Pashtun from Charsadda, he had risen to quite a status back home, to which he later returned and took on a number of projects aimed at helping the Pashtuns and many Pakistanis (employments, funding humanitarian projects, development and charities). These projects include, a fructose factory and Frontier Ceramics; one of the largest in output of Italian style tiles and functional ceramics in Asia (at the time). He worked with and made good friends with Henry Kissinger and helped orchestrate the inauguration between Mao Zedong and Richard M. Nixon.[citation needed].
[edit] End days
After many years in Karachi, Shakirullah Durrani retired to Charsadda with his first wife, Samina Hayat, whose connections had proved instrumental in his rise to fame and success. One of his daughters, Tehmina Durrani, was married to a prominent politician - Mustapha Khar - on whom she wrote the best selling book My Feudal Lord. Tehmina is now married to Shahbaz Sharif, the Chief Minister of Punjab. Shakirullah Durrani died in Charsadda on 20 November 2009.
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DG FIA Tehsin Shah tenders resignation
Updated at: 1203 PST, Wednesday, August 17, 2011
DG FIA Tehsin Shah tenders resignation ISLAMABAD: Director General Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Tehsin Anwar Shah tendered his resignation in the Supreme Court on Wednesday during the hearing of the National Insurance Company Limited (NICL) scam case, saying that he can not work under a junior, Geo News reported.
Responding to which, Chief Justice (CJ) Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry said that Shah should not threat the court with his move and resign before the concerned authorities.
Tendering his resignation, Shah said being the director general of the FIA, he could not work under his subordinate FIA’s Additional Director General Zafar Qureshi, chief investigator probing the NICL scam.
The members of Qureshi’s team also appeared before the court on Wednesday.
Furthermore, CJ reprimanded Director FIA Lahore Waqar Haider saying he was creating hurdles in the way of implementing the court’s orders.
The two officials had been summoned by the court over the bomb scare in the FIA office.
Assistant Director FIA Lahore Khwaja Imad told the court Haider had said that he was “under a lot of pressure”
Earlier on Tuesday, the court had ordered Shah to allow officers from Qureshi’s team to rejoin the probe. Moreover, the court had directed Shah to associate himself with the team to facilitate the probe.
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NICL scam: DG FIA Tahsin Shah tenders resignation in court
Published: August 17, 2011
Shah claims he was superseded by Additional DG Zafar Qureshi in the NICL land scam investigation. PHOTO: INP/FILE
ISLAMABAD: The Director General of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Syed Tahsin Anwar Ali Shah offered his resignation in the Supreme Court on Wednesday during the hearing of the NICL scam case.
Shah claims he was superseded by Additional DG Zafar Qureshi in the NICL land scam investigation, and offered his resignation as a result.
Shah was made a member of Qureshi’s team that was probing the scam.
(Read: Bomb hoax keeps Zafar Qureshi from resuming probe)
The investigation team appeared in the apex court, where the Assistant Director of the FIA Lahore, Khawaja Hammad said he barred people from entering the FIA building after receiving a bomb threat over the phone.
Hammad said the Lahore director told him not to let Qureshi enter the office for the same reason. The court ordered an inquiry into the bomb hoax.
The court ordered Shah to be a part of the investigation team, and told the authorities to hand over all files of the NICL case to Zafar Qureshi.
Counsel for Moonis Elahi, Babar Awan alleged that Zafar Qureshi was unable to conduct an unbiased investigation. He requested the court to replace Qureshi, for he had earlier stated that Moonis was threatening him. The CJP said this request had already been rejected.
The case was adjourned indefinitely.
For more on this issue follow: niclscam
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NICL scam: As Qureshi resumes probe, FIA officials ‘misplace’ files
By Asad Kharal
Published: August 16, 2011
Sources say govt decided not to allow meetings of investigation team or access to case files till Elahi’s acquittal. PHOTO: FILE
LAHORE:
Recently restored Additional Director General FIA Zafar Qureshi resumed the National Insurance Company Limited (NICL) scam probe on Monday amid ‘pre-planned’ obstacles.
In an attempt to facilitate Moonis Elahi, an accused in the multi-billion rupee NICL scam, prosecutors of the FIA failed to cooperate in the investigation process, well placed sources in the interior ministry said. Senior FIA officials also claimed to have ‘misplaced’ record files of the scam.
According to sources, Qureshi wrote to the Supreme Court (SC), secretary interior, DG FIA and Director FIA Lahore asking how he could conduct a transparent investigation when relevant records and investigation team members were unavailable.
Qureshi also asked for the leaves of the investigation team to be cancelled and to make it mandatory for FIA prosecutors to take part in the investigation process.
Following a threat of an implication of Elahi in yet another case related to NICL scam, the government is trying to find ways to delay or halt the case, sources revealed.
Elahi’s acquittal was made possible after many witnesses backed out from their initial statements and Qureshi was removed from his post, they added, saying the government fears that if Qureshi is allowed to take charge of the case or given access to case files before August 16, he might foil Elahi’s planned acquittal. The sources added that the government was planning a strategy to stop or make Qureshi ‘disappear’ from the scene for a few days.
The government might also plan to file a review petition against the SC order regarding Qureshi’s reinstatement.
Sources said that a plan “is being chalked out in which FIA junior officers may attack Qureshi, humiliating him”.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 16th, 2011.
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