AHMAD AHMADANI
National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in a bid to bring Kamran Kayani back to the country has asked the Interior ministry to issue the red warrant of an accused allegedly involve in a multi-billion rupees Defence Housing Authority (DHA) scam.
Well-placed sources disclosed to Pakistan Today that NAB has written a letter to the interior ministry of and sought the red warrant of Kamran Kayani in a bid to bring him back. They said the Interpol Pakistan has started procedure and it will soon write a letter to France-based Interpol headquarters for the repatriation of an accused allegedly involve in a multi-billion rupees DHA scam. And, Interpol headquarters will issue an arrest warrant of Kayani to 200 member countries, they added.
“Finding no option to make Kamran Kayani part of the necessary investigation, NAB has sought red warrants,” sources said, adding that investigation of DHA scam could not be concluded without bringing Kayani back to the country.
Official sources said that NAB has initiated a process to bring Kayani back to the country through Interpol to make him part of the investigations in Rs 10 billion DHA scam. They said NAB has issued several notices to Kayani and asked him to appear before investigation team. However, he has so far ignored the notices and avoided appearing before the officials of NAB despite repeated efforts. Also, the process has been initiated following an order of the Lahore accountability court in this regard, they added.
Sources said that Arshad and DHA City Lahore project director Brig (r) Khalid Nazir Butt are in judicial custody. Only Kamran Kayani did not become part of the NAB investigation in DHA land scam.
Billions of rupees have been pocketed by the culprits in the DHA City (Lahore) project, which was inaugurated in 2009 to facilitate the families of army martyrs, wounded and army soldiers by allotting them small or large size plots in recognition of their services. Kamran Kayani of Elysium Holding and Hammad Arshad of Globaco offered their services to facilitate DHA Lahore to carry out the project by acquiring land, but both failed to deliver plots to families of martyrs and general public after the lapse of many years.
On the complaint of DHA officials, the national anticorruption watchdog (NAB) had launched an investigation against Hammad Arshad and Kayani due to their alleged involvement in the DHA mega corruption scam. The accused collected around Rs 16 billion from 26,000 people by deceiving them through a fake housing project.
Earlier, NAB Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry told this scribe that NAB would soon seek the red warrant of Kayani from the ministry in DHA land scam. “NAB sent summons, notices and reminders to his residence in the country, but all met with the same fate as he did not bother to cooperate with the bureau, which led the bureau to get the red warrant issued against him for completion of investigation within a time frame.” NAB chairman said.
According to NAB, Globaco signed an agreement with DHA EME in Nov 2009, agreeing to develop the DHA City Lahore on a tract of land measuring 25,000 kanals near Thokhar Niaz Baig. The firm managed to purchase only 13,103 kanals of land, and that too in a scattered form. Arshad collected Rs 15.47 billion from the public by issuing allotment letters, and later, transferred the money to his personal accounts. The accused used the funds for personal gains and invested them in other business ventures.
NAB said that because no meaningful development work was undertaken in the DHA City, the accused cheated the general public and the families of soldiers and martyrs by depriving them of their hard-earned money. Of the amount received by the main accused from the public, he spent only Rs 1.82 billion to acquire the 13,103 kanals.
There are more than 11,700 affected persons registered with the DHA, which claims that Globaco — now known as Orange Holding Private Limited, an offshoot of Eden Private Limited — “intentionally kept delaying the project and gave different options for more financial gains.”
When contacted to get updates regarding DHA land scam, NAB spokesman did not respond despite repeated phone calls and text messages.
It is worth mentioning here that Brig (r) Amjad Parvez Kayani, another brother of former army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, in a statement clarified that the ex-army chief had nothing to do with his brother’s actions.