The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has traced that Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim received kickbacks in the multi-billion-rupee National Insurance Company Limited (NICL) scam.
FIA Karachi Deputy Director Altaf Hussain told the National Assembly Standing Committee on Commerce on Thursday that Fahim’s bank account was one of the 19 accounts where money was transferred in the Korangi Land deal. The account is jointly operated by Fahim and a Jaliluzzaman, and Rs24.4 million were transferred for settling an outstanding loan. As much as Rs8.4 million was separately deposited into Jaliluzzaman’s account while Rs7.9 million were transferred to Rizwana Amin’s account. A committee member asked if Jaliluzzaman was Fahim’s son but Hussain did not have an answer to that.
Hussain said that according to National Engineering Services Pakistan Private Ltd (Nespak), NICL paid Rs487.4 million over and above the market rate to purchase 10 acres of land in Korangi from Khalid Anwar. The FIA has established kickbacks worth Rs300 billion in the deal, which was struck through Khwaja Akbar, the front man for NICL Chairman Ayaz Niazi.
“We have met Fahim and asked him to explain how the money was transferred into his account. He has sought time to reply,” Hussain said.
Hussain said that according to the FIA’s investigations, Rs2.42 billion were embezzled out of the total purchases worth Rs5 billion. “The seller of the property (Anwar), through his lawyer, has offered to return Rs490 million in installments in five years along with interest payments. The FIA has no objections to the offer but the trial court has to accept it,” he said.
