Prime accused in DHA City Lahore scam offers to turn approver

NAB official says Gen Kayani’s brother Kamran Kayani not a suspect in case as yet

Hamaad Arshad, the prime accused in the Rs 17 billion Defence Housing Authority (DHA) City Lahore scam, has offered to become an approver after irrefutable evidence against him and other influential accused has been gathered by the National Accountability Bureau.

A well-placed source in NAB told Pakistan Today that even though Arshad had offered to “talk like a parrot”, NAB would continue with its investigations to reach the bottom of the case.

When asked whether Arshad had agreed to provide evidence against Kamran Kayani, a brother of former army chief General (r) Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, for his alleged role in the scam, the NAB official did not offer much detail.

“Arshad is the main suspect in the case and we are investigating him only at the moment. We are also working on other leads, which would hopefully lead us to the other people involved in the land scam. Even though Arshad is making offers, he hasn’t revealed the names of the big fish involved in the case,” he added.

The source said that it was premature to name Kamran Kayani as a suspect in the case. Kayani, other sources have told Pakistan Today, reportedly left Pakistan a few days ago and was last seen in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The NAB source denied that the Bureau had asked the Ministry of Interior to put Kamran Kayani’s name on the Exit Control List (ECL). “Such reports are mere rumours. We will only make a formal request once the accused provides concrete evidence against Kamran Kayani,” he added.

The DHA City project was launched in 2009 primarily to accommodate and facilitate the families of “shuhada” (martyrs), war wounded, and soldiers of the Pakistan armed forces, by allotting them small sized plots in recognition of their services to the country.

Reportedly, Kamran Kayani of Elysium Holding and Hamaad Arshad of Globaco offered their services to facilitate DHA Lahore to carry out the project by acquiring land. However, both the companies failed to deliver any plots to soldiers or the families of shuhada even after six years. This prompted DHA to lodge a formal complaint against Kamran Kayani and Hamaad Arshad with NAB.

Arshad, who is the CEO of Al-Hamara Hills and Al-Hamra Avenue, had also submitted a Voluntary Return (VR) with NAB in the DHA Islamabad scam. He was also investigated by NAB for obtaining Rs 1.25 billion from members of the Shaheen Foundation on the pretext of giving them residential and commercial plots.

DHA Islamabad had also lodged a formal complaint with NAB Islamabad/Rawalpindi against Hamaad Arshad regarding the DHA Farmhouse Scam.