From Dogar to Iftikhar Chaudhry — what a difference!

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From Dogar to Iftikhar Chaudhry — what a difference!

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

HSM owner names big bribe takers Agrees to settle Rs9 billion Bank of Punjab claim

By Sohail Khan

ISLAMABAD: Sheikh Afzal, the main accused in the Rs9 billion financial scam at the Bank of Punjab (BoP), on Tuesday revealed before the bench of the Supreme Court that he paid Rs35 million to Parliamentary Affairs Minister Dr Babar Awan for winning the case in the apex court.

Sheikh Afzal, an absconder in the BoP scam, was recently arrested by the FIA from Malaysia along with his son Haris Afzal and was produced before a three-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

The bench was hearing the Rs9 billion BoP scam. The BoP had granted a loan of Rs9 billion to the Haris Steel Mills (HSM), Lahore without fulfilling legal requirements and consequently the steel mills defaulted on the loan. The Bank of Punjab then filed a petition against the HSM.

Sheikh Afzal admitted to having given Rs5 million as fees to a senior advocate of the Supreme Court and minister for parliamentary affairs Dr Babar Awan besides giving him Rs35 million for assuring him to win the case.

It is pertinent to mention here that earlier former attorney general Sardar Latif Khosa was removed from his office after being charged with taking money for a favourable court verdict during the tenure of Justice (retd) Abdul Hameed Dogar.

The arrest of Sheikh Afzal became possible after the Supreme Court issued orders to the government to produce the accused in the court come what may. This is the biggest achievement of the judges led by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry since their restoration following a popular movement. It perhaps never happened in this country that the accused of such a huge fraud was made to submit to law and agreed to pay the embezzled amount. This task was beyond imagination during the tenure of Abdul Hameed Dogar as chief justice when such people got away scot-free.

After the court hearing, Sheikh Afzal disclosed a list of top lawyers to the newsmen who extorted millions of rupees from him to clear his loan default cases from the courts.

He alleged that Dr Babar Awan took Rs40 million, Sharifuddin Pirzada Rs10 million, Malik Muhammad Qayyum, the then attorney general, Rs20 million and Ali Waseem, the son of Waseem Sajjad, Rs7.5 million.

Afzal said Dr Babar Awan took Rs5 million as fee and Rs35 million for getting a favourable verdict from the then Islamabad High Court.

In addition to these leading lawyers, Afzal said he had given Rs400-500 million to Hamesh Khan, former BoP president, Rs30 million to Aziz Ahmed, BoP Control Risk Manager, Rs50 million to Haroon Aziz, Rs10 million to Shoaib Qureshi, Rs40 million to Saleem Mirza, treasury head of the bank, Rs5 million to Fazil Asghar who helped him escape despite being on the Exit Control List (ECL).

Earlier, Shiekh Afzal tendered an apology to the court and submitted to surrender in the case by satisfying the Bank of Punjab in its claim against him.

He regretted over his loot and plunder but requested that his family members including his spouse and children should not be humiliated who were not involved in the fraud case.

He said his wife and 18-year-old son Hamza were also arrested from the Lahore airport. He confessed to getting Rs8 billion loan from the Bank of Punjab, adding 40 per cent was taken by his elder brother, Seth Yaqoob.

The court was informed that Sheikh Afzal had deposited $6 million to his son’s account in Dubai, besides depositing Rs2.5 billion to his wife’s account.

Sheikh Afzal’s son Haris Afzal, a BBA student, also told the court that he was ready to furnish all accounts and properties purchased on his name by his father.

During the course of the proceedings, Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry asked Dr Danishwar Malik, prosecutor general of the NAB, if there was any criminal case against Haris Afzal, son of Sheikh Afzal. Dr Danishwar replied in negative at which the court observed that it was an injustice with the family members.

The court ordered the release of Haris Afzal, however, directed to put his name on the ECL besides surrendering his passport to the NAB. The court directed Haris Afzal to extend his maximum cooperation to the NAB in the investigation process.

The court also allowed protection to Seth Nisar, elder brother of Shiekh Afzal, who wanted to return to Pakistan and pay the money.

His counsel, Advocate Wasim Sajjad, submitted before the court that Seth Nisar, who was abroad, wanted to return to Pakistan and ready to pay the amount being claimed against him.

He further submitted that earlier the court was misguided that Seith Nisar, brother of Sheikh Afzal, Chief Executive Haris Steel Mills, and Sheikh Munir had flown out of the country on October 24 despite being on ECL since 2000.

“His name was removed from the ECL on April 15, 2009 and he had taken Rs400 million as debt from Sheikh Afzal,” Wasim Sajjad added, requesting the court to ensure protection to Seth Nisar.

The court accepted the request and directed Wasim Sajjad to produce Seth Nisar before the court on December 2 and adjourned the hearing.

The court directed the NAB not to harass any family member of Sheikh Afzal, but allowed to take the due action for recovery of the defaulted money. The court also directed the NAB to expedite efforts for extradition of Hamesh Khan, who is an absconder in the case and in the US.

The court praised the role played by officials of FIA, particularly Azam Khan, the FIA DG, and the Foreign Affairs Ministry in the arrest of Sheikh Afzal from Malaysia.

Khawaja Haris, counsel for Bank of Punjab (BoP), and AK Dogar, counsel for Seth Yaqoob, also appeared before the court.

From Dogar to Iftikhar Chaudhry — what a difference!

 

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How money spoke in Dogar’s court

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

By Umar Cheema

ISLAMABAD: The sensational disclosure by the owner of Haris Steel Mills (HSM) about how money changed hands in the heyday of Justice Dogar, has finally resolved the riddle: why were two senior NAB officials jailed for arresting the HSM’s accountant? It was this accountant who was released by the court in 2008 and only his re-arrest a month back made it possible to reach his owners and others and expose their comrades in black coats.

Two NAB officials - Muhammad Aslam and Col (retd) Tariq Ahmad - had to face humiliation in Dogar’s day when the bar and the bench had joined hands to bail out the fat cats of the HSM.

Sharifuddin Pirzada, Dr Babar Awan and Malik Qayyum have been accused by Sheikh Afzal, HSM owner, of robbing his company by charging millions as their own fee and for judges. These lawyers pushed their friend, Justice Dogar, to punish the NAB officers for apprehending the HSM’s accountant, Irfan Ali, whose arrest warrant were issued. The court had sent the NAB officers behind bars for arresting him in the court’s cafeteria and set the accused (Irfan Ali) free.

On July 24, 2008 these two NAB officers arrested HSM’s accountant after the hearing of the case in Dogar’s court. Although they did so by making sure that no restraining order was issued regarding arrest, they were taken to task under the excuse that Irfan had been arrested in the cafeteria, which was in the court premises. As the arrest was being made, Irfan rang Dr. Babar Awan to inform him about this, Col. (retd) Tariq confirmed to The News, also disclosing that they received a call from Dubai offering them Rs200 million for setting the accountant free but they could not be lured.

As they brought him to the NAB office, they found in his pocket a handwritten paper mentioning the amount of money paid to the lawyers on that day. The name of Pirzada was on top with a sum of Rs5 million and Sajjad with Rs2 million. Another amount of Rs2 million was mentioned against “Dr. + Mitthu”. Later NAB’s investigation discovered Dr. denoted Babar Awan and Malik Qayyum nicknamed as Mitthu. The paper later was incorporated in the record submitted to the court.

But how the money spoke that day was apparent from the court’s proceedings. Pirzada, Waseem Sajjad and Babar Awan went to Justice Dogar’s chamber apprising him of the arrest of Irfan, prompting him to recall the court that was adjourned before.

NAB’s officers were summoned within two hours along with Irfan and brought straight to the of the then attorney general, Malik Qayyum, who was also furious over the arrest. “You’ll see the consequence of what you’ve done,” he said addressing the NAB officers in the presence of the accountant. As they were escorted to the Dogar’s court, Babar Awan told the bench about the maltreatment his “worthy client” faced in the premises of the court. The collaborative efforts turned out to be a nightmare for the NAB officials who were sent to Adiyala Jail for a week for “contempt of court” and Irfan was set free.

It was totally a false case as Justice Khalil-ul-Rehman Ramday, during the proceeding of the case, wondered how the cafeteria could be given the status of the court.

As things changed after the restoration of the deposed judges and Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry vigorously pursued the case, the NAB gathered courage and finally hunted down Irfan again who gave leads that made possible the arrest of big fish. Now, it was through the statement of Sheikh Afzal that the truth dawned before the court and the NAB officers were vindicated, though by default.

How money spoke in Dogar’s court