Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Findings of the six inquiry committees about 39 corruption scams involving the Capital Development Authority (CDA) have been pending with Prime Minister’s Secretariat for the last two years and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has not shown any interest in retrieval of Rs 200 billion public money from the corrupt mafia.

According to the documents available with Daily Times, these 39 corruption scandals at the CDA came to the surface during the rules of President Pervez Musharraf and President Asif Ali Zardari.

Soon after assuming the power in the Centre, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif vowed to deal with corrupt people according to the law and directed the officials concerned to hold detailed inquiries into the corruption scandals.

On the direction of the prime minister, six inquiry teams were formed and given 39 corruption scams to investigate. They were told to investigate these scams within the stipulated time.

Muhammad Imtiaz Tajwar led a three-member investigation team, investigated four corruption scams involving Rs 20 billion rupees and submitted his report to Prime Minister’s Secretariat. The other members of the team were Malik Mumtaz, Wasiq Hussain Malik and Nauman Shaikh.

The team probed the Kashmir Highway scandal in which huge financial irregularities were found. It looked into the Park Tower scandal, IJP Road scandal and the scandal of double road leading to Bahria Enclave.

In these corruption scams, the corrupt mafia mercilessly plundered the public assets in connivance with CDA officers and government representatives. The Nawaz Sharif government has been sitting on inquiry reports on these scams for the last two years.

A committee headed by Additional Secretary Javed Akhtar was directed to look into the investment made by the then CDA chairman in the Karachi Stock Exchange, allotment of plots to employees, LED project, diplomatic shuttle service and the Aabpara parking. Joint Secretary for Finance Naveed Alauddin, Salman Tariq and Rana Tariq were members of the committee.

The committee completed its investigation within the stipulated time and submitted its report to Prime Minister’s Secretariat for further action. The sources privy to this development said the committee suggested reforms in the CDA and recommended action against the CDA officers involved in corrupt practices.

For investigation into six mega corruption scams at the CDA, the Prime Minister’s Secretariat formed a three-member committee headed by Shahid Mehmood, additional secretary for finance. Col (Retd) Suleman, Abdul Sattar Malik and Ammar Idrees were members of the committee. This team investigated scams such as Monal Restaurant, La Montana Restaurant, allotment of plots in diplomatic enclave, allotments at Lake View Park, Gun Club and allotments at the Arts and Crafts Village.

The committee unearthed more than Rs 50 billion corruption and identified the CDA officials and political people involved in these scams. The committee submitted its report to Prime Minister’s Secretariat on March 4, 2014 with the direction that looted national wealth could be retrieved through timely action by the competent authority against all those involved.

Another committee consisting of Arshad Mirza, Jamal Yousaf, Raja Saif-ur-Rehman and Saif Ullah Shah investigated eight corruption scams involving Rs 100 billion. This committee looked into the issuance of no-objection certificates to housing societies by the former government and allotment of plots in D-12 Sector to high ups in violation of rules. This committee also probed E-11 Sector, Kuri Model Village and allotment of agricultural farms to the elite class of the country.

Another committee headed by Haseeb Athar investigated six corruption scams involving billions of rupees such as Citizens Club, SAFA Mall allotments, petrol pump licences and Park Lane Estate, etc.

Daily Times contacted Federal Information and Broadcasting Secretary Saba Mohsin and Prime Minister’s spokesman Musadik Malik for their comments on the pending inquiries, but they did not respond.