Investigations have been started in Switzerland against the director of commerce ministry, Farhan Ahmad Junejo, under money laundering charges in Rs 7 billion Trade Development of Pakistan (TDAP) financial scam.
FIA Crimes Circle, Karachi, initiated investigations into financial irregularities at TDAP in September 2012. In the light of inquiry, over 65 cases have been registered during the last one and half year. Dozens of people including former prime minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gillani, former commerce minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim and dozens of top officers and employees of TDAP have been nominated in the scam and several have been arrested.
During the probe into the case, it came into knowledge of FIA Farhan Ahmad Junejo, director of ministry of commerce, and UK national was appointed as director of federal minister on deputation under the special directives of the then commerce minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim. Soon after his induction, massive corruption kick started in different schemes of TDAP including freight subsidy and live sea food subsidy.
By virtue of his office, Junejo distributed a sum of Rs 5 billion under different subsidies to fake companies on forged export documents from October 2009 to July, 2012, by playing the role of front man of the then commerce minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim. He received 80 percent of this amount as bribery through brokers vial different bank accounts.
The investigations revealed that Farhan Ahmad Junejo funnelled about 250 million rupees to different offshore bank accounts operating in his name and in the names of his family members. Later, this money was transferred to his and other family members’ accounts operating in the UK, US and Switzerland.
The FIA has approached the Swiss government to get bank accounts freeze besides providing details of cases registered against Junejo in Pakistan and evidence on the amount transferred to Switzerland.
