FIA Arrests Key Figures In APPC Corruption Scandal

APP

Islamabad: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Tuesday arrested key figures, including the Associated Press of Pakistan Corporation (APPC) Former Project director Ghawas Khan, after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) terminated their interim bail petitions in a multimillion-rupee corruption scandal.

Former Deputy Director Musawir Imran and Former Chief Computer Engineer Saad Mudassar are also among those apprehended by the FIA’s anti-corruption wing.

IHC Justice Tariq Mahmood Jahangiri heard the pre-arrest bail petitions filed by the accused.

APPC Counsel Advocate Sardar Yaqoob Mastoi appeared before the bench and argued that the lower court had already cancelled the bails of the accused but they managed to escape from the courtroom.

Yaqoob informed the bench that the accused caused a loss of millions of rupees to the state-run news organisation through corrupt practices and violations of Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules in the purchase of equipment. The lawyer requested that the court dismiss the pre-arrest bail petitions so that the accused could be arrested for further investigation into the scam.

Advocate emphasised that each petitioner has been accused of a specific role and that the custody of the accused is essential to investigating the irregularities mentioned in the FIR. Conversely, the lawyers of the accused requested that the bench grant interim bail to the petitioners.

FIA has registered a corruption case against the accused, including the aforementioned three individuals: Ministry of Information Cyber Wing Former Deputy Director Bilal Zafar, APPC Former Manager Accounts Arshad Majeed Chaudhry, Former Director Admin Ziaullah Bhutto, and officials of M/s Tejari Pakistan Private Limited, M/s New Horizon, M/s Art Tech System, and M/s Media Links under Sections 34, 409, 420, 468, 471 PPC r/w 5(2) and 47 Prevention Of Corruption Act (PCA).

The accused are alleged to have colluded as members of the procurement committee to award a contract worth 113 million rupees illegally without the approval of the financial proposal from the APPC Managing Director and violated PPRA rules in the purchase of the organisation’s equipment. The FIR stated that these individuals are also accused of preparing fake minutes of the 8th meeting in collusion with each other.