KARACHI: The recent raid of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) building and subsequent seizure of some important relevant record regarding the fake accounts and other cases have revealed how the top officials of SECP were giving favours to different politicians and influential people.
Khalid Mirza, head of the SECP board, had raised objections over the raid and had told the government that such acts would lower the stature of SECP in the eyes of the corporate sector and other entities regulated by the commission.
However, an FIA official, on the condition of anonymity, said, “FIA has recovered a number of evidence in the fake accounts and other cases. It was revealed that the SECP officials had tempered the important records in these cases.”
The officials of SECP, in an earlier case, had confessed before the Supreme Court that they had tampered with the official record of Chaudhry Sugar Mills. However, the FIA has now recovered the record of fake accounts case in which the SECP officials hid important information from the Joint Investigation Team during its investigation.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had constituted a JIT to investigate the Panama issue, but the SECP officials, including the then chairman Zafarul Haq Hijazi, tampered with the data of Chaudhry Sugar Mills as well as with the record of money laundering cases against Nawaz Sharif and his family members. Hijazi was a close friend of ex-finance minister Ishaq Dar.
Panama JIT, in its report, mentioned that the irregular closing of the said case in backdate is a misconduct on part of Hijazi, executive directors Ali Azeem Ikram and Abid Hussain. The JIT stated that there was also a need to investigate the role of ex-commissioner Tahir Mahmood in this affair.
After the investigation, Tahir Mahmood and director Maheen Fatima became the state witnesses against Zafar Hijazi.
At another place, the JIT recorded that Abid Hussain and Maheen Fatima held a meeting prior to appearing before the JIT. These officials were tutored to conceal the truth and present manipulated facts, especially on Chaudhry Sugar Mills case.
Panama JIT recommendation at page 461 stated, “Either investigation of the case under section 263 of the Companies Ordinance 1984, be reopened by SECP under the direction of the Supreme Court of Pakistan or the matter may be referred to National Accountability Bureau for inquiry/investigating under Section 9A of the NAO, 1999.”
Subsequently on August 8, 2017, Central Court Islamabad Special Judge Iram Niazi, while deciding bail petition filed by Hijazi, stated, “At this stage, a deeper appreciation of evidence cannot be given, however, tentative look at above evidence shows that the closure note of backdate was made after meetings, full discussions amongst Maheen Fatima, Tariq Ahmed, Ali Azeem Ikram, Tahir Mehmood and Abid Hussain, as these people also signed the same likewise accused/accused/applicant. All of them are sailors of the same boat. Other than statements of officers who signed the same alleged closure note in backdate, independent corroborative piece of evidence is needed.”
It is yet to be ascertained that either such alleged undue influence and pressure was made by accused/applicant or said closure note was made with consensus, which needs consideration and makes it a case of further inquiry, the court order said.
Coincidently, in the current fake accounts case, the same officers, namely Tahir Mahmood and Abid Hussain, have been alleged for a number of irregularities and providing benefit to main accused persons.
Earlier, in the Employees Old-Age Benefit Institution (EOBI) fraud case, confession of Tahir Mahmood is on record wherein he had confessed to have helped former EOBI chairman Sheikh Barkatullah and Tahir Siddiqui of Prudential Group.
As far as recent statements of Khalid Mirza are concerned, it should be recalled that it was Khalid Mirza himself, who in February 2003, on the last day in his office, before proceeding to leave following his retirement as SECP chairman, illegally issued a license for a new stock exchange named “PEX” to his friend Jahangir Siddiqui which resulted in the chaos in the entire securities market.
All the existing stock exchanges then went to the court and ultimately the implementation of such malafide action of Khalid Mirza was stopped on the orders of the Sindh High Court.
Khalid Mirza had also served on the board of JS group in companies like JS ABAMCO and BankIslami Pakistan.
