With the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) virtually dormant for months now, the number of inquiries pending with the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) (at different stages) has seen a considerable surge. This is mainly due to diversion of inquiries to the FIA, when the NAB has failed to handle them.
The NAB suspended its operations in July this year, following the lapse of a 30-day deadline given by the Supreme Court to the government either to appoint the bureau’s chairman or wind up the organization. And since then the FIA has been investigating the white-collar crimes beside probing the cases of terrorism and human trafficking.
The cases pertaining to corruption and white-collar crimes are also being sent to the FIA and the influx of fresh inquiries has put an extra burden on the agency’s investigators, thus causing delay in completion of the inquiries, a source in the FIA told this scribe on Wednesday.
The Anti-Corruption and Economic Crime Wing of the FIA was transferred to the NAB in 2004 but it was handed back to the FIA in 2008 when the country’s premier anti-corruption organisation; the NAB, was given the responsibility of elimination of corruption.
The inquiries pending with FIA include white-collar crimes; cases of embezzlement and corruption in government departments, human trafficking, illegal allotment of plots by the CDA, embezzlement in duty free shops and manufacturing and sale of spurious drugs. According to agency’s sources, currently, there are more than 760 background investigations’ pending with the FIA. Out of them, 35 inquiries are related to the CDA, 14 to the FBR and four are concerned with the Health Ministry. According to the sources, a number of inquiries regarding corruption/embezzlement in other departments such as the PSO, SNGPL, FBR, PIA, NADRA, National Bank of Pakistan, immigration and passport offices are also pending with the agency.
Most of the inquiries pending with FIA are about the Capital Development Authority (CDA). “Out of the 35 CDA-related reports pending with the Agency, 13 were recently shifted from the NAB,” the source said.
The FIA is probing 23 cases of irregularities allegedly committed by the Capital Development Authority high-ups in executing its development projects while many others including illegal allotment of plots to the influential people, the agro-farms allotment case, scam in the allotment of 4,000 agro plots in the Kurri Road by former CDA land director Waseem Shamshad, Zero-Point Interchange, the Kashmir Highway project, leasing out of Monal Restaurant at Pir Sohawa, sewage treatment plant project in I-9, land deals with some local and foreign companies, the sale of plots for construction of a hotel and apartment complexes near Jinnah Convention Centre and Centaurus at F-8.
The CDA had illegally allotted 3,192 plots worth Rs 70 billion to those officials who were on deputation. Hence all these inquiries are pending with the FIA and awaiting completion.
Interestingly, there are more than 150 departmental inquiries pending against the agency’s own officials since long. These FIA employees are facing charges of various natures including corruption and misuse of power.
When asked, a senior FIA official told Pakistan Today on condition of anonymity that the non-provision of required documents by the government departments concerning the FIA were causing a delay in completion of investigations.
“The FIA has sought a legislation to enhance its powers. He further said that a large number of the FIA officials have been transferred to the NAB and there was a shortage of capable officials in the Agency. As many as 3,733 employees have been working with the FIA and their salaries and other benefits are far lesser than their counterparts in other departments,” he observed.
