ISLAMABAD: Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has failed to pursue dozens of pending corruption cases in Capital Development Authority (CDA).
Well placed sources have told Pakistan Today that the FIA officials worked hand in glove with CDA officials that is why the corruption cases of billions of rupees have been lingering on for years. ‘For the last five years, not a single case has seen its logical conclusion, which is unfortunate,” they said.
Mayor of Islamabad and CDA Chairman, Sheikh Ansar Aziz said that he often signed files for approval to send record sought by the FIA every week. “It is FIA’s inefficiency that they have failed to conclude a single case in the past half-decade,” he said.
These sources have told this scribe that taking bribes is a common practice in the FIA and the officials delay the corruption cases despite having concrete proofs that is why no major developments are made in such cases.
Aziz was grilled by FIA’s Islamabad zone director and officials of anti-corruption cell in August this year over CDA’s inability to provide the record in different inquiries.
Upon contact, Aziz claimed that the authority always cooperates with the investigation agency. FIA’s claim is baseless and unperceivable, he concluded. CDA’s Deputy Director Media Malik Saleem could not be reached.
At this point, 12 mega cases pertaining to corruption of billions of rupees in CDA are still pending at the FIA after being labelled as ‘inconclusive’. These cases include; La-Montana case, illegal promotions, illegal recruitments, Grand Hyatt case, Safa Gold Mall case, deforestation of Margalla Hills, tree plantation campaign at Islamabad highway, double allotments by land directorate, illegal billboards and embezzlement in advertisements by directorate of municipal administration, illegal housing societies case, Kachi Abadi case and Shifa International Hospital case.
In most of the cases, private parties either illegally occupy land or have constructed irregular structures allegedly in connivance with CDA officials. However, an FIA official while requesting anonymity claimed that the FIA has time and again sought record from the civic authority but to no avail.
In addition to that, he said, “There are over 25 different inquiries including illegal recruitments, upgrading, cadre changing, the Katchi Abadi case, and the individual inquiries on CDA employees of different wings—who were involved in corruption, malpractices, and misuse of authority. But, the authority has failed to provide the required details, and record, whenever told to furnish, which proves that the authority’s incumbent regime has suspicious intentions and they want to save the corrupt officials, who looted the authority of billions of rupees, he added.
Another official of FIA said that in July 2016the FIA also wrote a letter recommending CDA to set up a commission and submit details about the establishment of Shifa International Hospital to the investigating agency. However, they are still waiting for a response from the CDA. “This is what happens to the rest of the inquiries as well,” he said.
On the other hand, the investigation agency has failed to accumulate the required information despite having powers to summon the concerned officials and taking legal actions against them, officials at CDA said.
“In fact, they [FIA officials] are not willing to conclude these cases, as these are their bread and butter,” they said. It is noted that all the aforementioned cases are being investigated by the investigation officers of FIA for years, or in some case for decades.
An official at planning wing of CDA said, “FIA and CDA are the same wine in different bottles. Whenever CDA officials do malpractices they save a major portion for FIA and NAB.”
