Court Seeks Full Attendance in Rs1.24B APP Fraud Case, FIA Officer Absent Again
APP
Islamabad: The District & Sessions Court of Islamabad adjourned the hearing of a high-profile Rs 1.24 billion financial fraud case involving the state-run news agency, Associated Press of Pakistan (APP), after the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) officer failed to appear despite repeated summons.
Additional District and Sessions Judge Sheikh Sohail Ahmed ordered the presence of all accused in the case and directed them to submit their responses by April 15. The hearing was postponed due to the continued absence of the FIA officer.
During the proceedings, APP’s legal advisor, Nazir Sultan Mekan, informed the court that Rs 1.24 billion had been embezzled from the agency. He also stated that a request to register a criminal case had been pending with the FIA for four months, yet no action had been taken. Mekan requested the court to issue an order for the registration of the case against the accused.
Several accused individuals were present in court, including Rao Furqan, represented by Sardar Aamir Advocate; Qasim Gujjar, represented by Atiya Safdar; and Arshad Majeed Chaudhry, who appeared in person. Shafiq ur Rehman Advocate submitted his power of attorney for Chaudhry, while Taimoor Aslam Khan represented accused Moazzam Javed.
The judge inquired about the FIA’s representation in court. In response, FIA’s court assistant Chaudhry Shafiq explained that Assistant Sub-Inspector Irshad Bhatti was handling the case but could not attend due to another hearing at the Anti-Corruption Court.
Shafiq further stated that the complaint related to the APP case had been mistakenly assigned to the Anti-Corruption Circle, when it should have been handled by the Corporate Crime Circle. He requested a week’s delay for the investigating officer to attend the next hearing.
The court granted the request, adjourning the case until April 15, and ordered the mandatory attendance of all accused at the next session.
The petition filed in court detailed that the APP administration had formed a fact-finding committee on June 24, 2024, to investigate allegations of financial irregularities. The committee’s findings revealed significant financial mismanagement, including the misuse of employee-related expenses (ERE) and provident fund (PF) accounts.
According to the report, Rs 1.24 billion was misappropriated through unauthorized transactions, misuse of authority, and violations of financial rules.
The committee found that key financial records had been deliberately concealed, and bank officials were involved in causing losses to the national exchequer. The petition also claimed that important financial documents, including cash books, salary and pension credit sheets, and master ledgers for 2021 to 2023, were missing or destroyed by former officials.
The committee identified 16 individuals implicated in the scam, noting that millions of rupees were illegally transferred into personal bank accounts, with one employee transferring Rs 4.7 million and another shifting Rs 15.4 million from the ERE account. Provident fund money, totaling Rs 910.4 million, was allegedly diverted to personal accounts without authorization.
Despite these findings, the petition claimed that the FIA had taken no legal action against the accused, prompting the APP administration to approach the court to seek the registration of a First Information Report (FIR). The petition named the FIA Director General, the investigating officer, and other relevant individuals as respondents in the case.
The court is scheduled to review the responses from all parties on April 15.
