ISLAMABAD: National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has summoned Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) chairman to appear today (Friday) and record plea in a Rs40 billion graft case against Ali Jahangir Siddiqui, an aide to the prime minister and ambassador-designate to the United States.
The anti-graft watchdog – NAB, in a call-up notice, has advised SECP Chairman Zafar Abdullah to appear before a Combined Investigation Team (CIT) at Lahore on April 20 to record a statement in an inquiry against directors and owners of M/s Azgard Nine Limited, Agritech Limited and others. Moreover, failing to comply with the notice may entail penal consequences as provided in section 2 of the schedule of National Accountability Ordinance, 1999, said NAB’s call-up notice, a copy of which is available with Pakistan Today.
The SECP chairman will record his statement before NAB Lahore regarding the role performed by him as Crosby Securities Limited Chief Executive Officer (CEO), NAB’s call-up notice added.
According to NAB document, “During the course of the inquiry, it was revealed to NAB that M/s Crosby Securities Limited was co-manager/arranger in Offer for sale Documents (OFSD) of M/s Agritech Limited published on March 4, 2010. It is further revealed that the gross misstatements regarding the subject company were made in said OFSD.”
It is relevant to mention that NAB has already interrogated National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) former group chief Nadeem Anwar Ilyas, and Invest and Finance Securities former CEO Sohail Dayala in its investigation against Pakistan’s envoy-designate Ali Jahangir Siddiqui. Moreover, NAB has also investigated SECP Additional Director Tariq Ahmed and Additional Director Aishah Ali Raza, as both were appointed as inspectors to conduct an investigation regarding the facts, transactions and events relating to Montebello (MBL), Italy in 2008 by M/s Azgard Nine Limited till liquidation of MBL in 2014.
Pakistan’s envoy-designate to US Ali Jahangir Siddiqui had been accused of “syphoning off funds amounting to €23.758 million in 2008 for the purchase of an Italian company, Monte Bello SRL, using a foreign company, Fairytale SRL Sweden, which resulted in a loss to the company and shareholders”.
He was also accused of selling shares of Agritech Ltd to different financial and government institutions by Azgard Nine at a higher price than market price to settle the loan defaults of the company, which resulted in an approximate loss of Rs40 billion to the institutions.
Well-informed sources said that M/s Agritech Limited was a defaulter of Rs2.75 billion and the company was engaged in dialogue with banks and other financial institutions to reschedule the payment of loans after the expiry of a deadline. However, SECP Chairman Zafar Abdullah while working as Crosby Securities Limited CEO provided misstatements about M/s Agritech Ltd and got the company enlisted at SECP on April 12, 2010, later declaring M/s Agritech limited as a defaulter. They said this action of Zafar Abdullah’s M/s Crosby Securities Limited was against the laws of SECP.
It is also learnt from sources that although M/s Agritech was defaulter at the time it was enlisted at the stock exchange, however, Ali Jahangir Siddiqui and others including JS Group in connivance with officers of SECP got the company enlisted. More importantly, an important document of OFSD was provided by SECP for the enlisting of Agritech Limited as no company can be enlisted without the OFSD. SECP hid the liquidity challenges of Agritech, said sources.
