FIR Registered Against 16 in APP’s Rs1.24bn Corruption Scam

APP

Islamabad: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has registered a First Information Report (FIR) against 16 accused in a mega corruption scam involving Rs1.24 billion in the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP).

According to the FIR, the accused—including two former executive directors, former accounts managers, a reporter, and other officials—misused their authority and embezzled huge sums from the organization’s funds.

Managing Director APP, Mohammad Asim Khichi, had ordered an internal inquiry through a departmental committee, after which the Fact-Finding Committee (FFC) report was forwarded to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. On the directions of Federal Minister for Information Atta Ullah Tarar, the case was later referred to FIA.

The accused named in the FIR include former executive directors Adnan Akram Bajwa and Mohammad Ghawas Khan; reporter Furqan Rao; former accounts managers Arshad Majeed Chaudhry and Imran Munir; audit in-charge Tahir Ghumman; finance manager Usman Younus; special assistant Moazzam Javed Khokhar; cashier Azhar Farooq; MD’s secretary Ejaz Maqbool; assistant managers Ghulam Murtaza and Shahid Latif; provident fund in-charge Khurram Shahzad; and audit officers Idrees Ahmed Gujjar and Saqib Kaleem.

FIA officials stated that many of the accused have gone into hiding since the case was registered. They were earlier provided opportunities to defend themselves but failed to give satisfactory explanations. The agency announced further arrests and investigations to recover the embezzled funds and identify facilitators, including officials from APP, AGPR, and the National Bank.

The network of accused was allegedly involved in embezzlement from APP’s Employees Related Expenditures (ERE) and Provident Fund (PF), amounting to Rs1.24 billion.

APP officials said the action was part of the government’s ongoing anti-corruption drive under the directives of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Information Minister Atta Ullah Tarar, and Secretary Information Ambreen Jan. Employees and media organizations welcomed the move, calling for strict legal action against all involved.