Rs 9 bn BoP scam

SC orders arrest of Haris Steel Mills’ chief
By Sohail Khan

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday ordered the arrest of Haris Steel Mills Chief Executive Sheikh Munir for not depositing Rs 500 million in the Rs 9 billion Bank of Punjab loan case.

The three-member SC bench, comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Ghulam Rabbani and Justice Jawwad S Khwaja, was hearing the BoP financial scam case.The BoP had granted Rs 9 billion loan to the Haris Steel Mills, Lahore, without fulfilling legal requirements. Eventually, the Steel Mills defaulted the loan. The BoP then filed a petition against the Haris Steel Mills.

The court also asked the Bank to confiscate the property of Sheikh Afzal, the owner of Haris Steel, after duly publicising the same in newspapers. It adjourned the hearing till October 5.

During the last hearing of the case, the court had directed Sheikh Munir, brother of Sheikh Afzal, to deposit Rs 500 million in BoP, besides surrendering property worth the same amount as a token of goodwill for resolving the case outside the court.

On Thursday, Wasim Sajjad, counsel for Sheikh Afzal, however, informed the court that his client had deposited Rs 200 million only. At this, the chief justice expressed displeasure over the attitude of the owners of the Haris Steel Mills and said they have betrayed the court.

The court asked the Bank to take over possession of the property, belonging to Sheikh Afzal and his family after duly publishing a list of the property in newspapers to see if some people else claim the said property.

The court also issued arrest warrants for Sheikh Munir, the owners of Prime Steel and Hyder Steel Abid Raza and Naeem Siddiq, besides fourteen other accused in the case.Appearing on notice, Khwaja Haris, counsel for the Bank of Punjab, informed the court that Sheikh Afzal’s family members had purchased properties in Dubai with the amounts drawn from the BoP.

Meanwhile, the chief justice directed the counsel to present a list of such properties in court so that the matter is taken up through the Foreign Office. During the proceedings of the case, the chief justice and Justice Jawwad S Khwaja expressed serious displeasure over the conduct of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). The chief justice said that NAB was not interested in disposing of the case and it did not want to extradite the owners of Haris Steel.Justice Jawwad S Khwaja observed that the NAB was not proceeding in a professional way for extradition of the accused. The NAB should have hired an expert for the purpose, he said.

source: www.thenews.com.pk