The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) was informed on Tuesday that Defense Housing Authority (DHA) Lahore has occupied 300 kanals of land of the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) which has caused Rs 1.93 billion loss to national kitty. The PAC meeting held here under the chairmanship of Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah to discuss and review audit paras of the Ministry of Religious Affairs for 2016-17 was informed by Chairman ETPB Siddiq-ul-Farooq that the DHA authorities have even ignored the ruling of the Supreme Court and didn't return a single plot of the Board.
The PAC while taking serious notice of the huge financial losses incurred to national exchequer by the ETPB and private companies M/s High Link and M/s Elysium Holding through fake and fraud financing directed the officials concerned to make all-out efforts to recover the amount. The chairman ETPB requested the Supreme Court of Pakistan to help the board in recovering the land grabbed by the DHA.
The chairman PAC directed the director DHA to appear in the next meeting and brief the panel as why the DHA has failed to implement court's orders. The audit officials briefing the meeting said that DHA neither developed 33 percent of the ETPL land nor returned it which caused Rs 1.93 billion financial loss to the national kitty.
Member Committee Shafqat Mehmood asked the chairman ETPB what action has been taken against the officials involved in the scam. The chairman ETPB said the ETPB officials involved in the scam have been made officers on special duty. On which Shafqat Mehmood said that they are drawing salaries from national kitty without doing any work. Farooq said that officials are drawing salaries even when they are suspended.
The committee expressed serious anger over the deputy director Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the director National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for their failure to brief the meeting on the issue. The chairman committee directed all the concerned departments not to send any official below grade-20 in the PAC meeting in future. The panel also asked the director general FIA to personally attend the next meeting.
The audit officials told the committee that the Evacuee Trust Property Board made financing of Rs 1.93 billion through M/s High Link and M/s Elysium Holding but there was neither any record of it nor the profit of Rs 613.94 million was shown. The chairman ETPB said that the national kitty was facing losses of billions of rupees as abovementioned companies didn't return the profit earned on the properties of the ETPB.
Shah said that DHA is a well known institution which inked agreements with ETPB but didn't pay the government dues after taking the governmental property. He expressed sorrow over the DHA and said that the authority even didn't give the due shares in plots of the housing scheme. The PAC chairman further said that this matter dates back to year 2009 but no inquiry has been carried out ever since.
The audit officials told the panel that the Ministry of Religious Affairs didn't return Rs 1.87 billions to pilgrims (Hujjaj). The principal accounting officer (PAO) of Ministry of Religious Affairs replied the committee that Rs 1.25 billions have been returned to pilgrims. The audit officials said that Rs 220 million were exempted against the rules and without a declaration. The panel asked the PAO to recover the amount as early as possible. He said that former Chairman ETPB Syed Asif Akhtar Hashmi signed an agreement with DHA for developing 1,946 kanals of land owned by ETPB, adding so far the DHA has developed 1,110 kanals of land and returned only 800 kanals while rest 300 kanals of land are not transferred.
The audit officials told the committee that the ETPB, Lahore, fixed revenue targets of Rs 1.79 billion for 2012-13 and profit on investments was to be yielded amounting to Rs 759.34 million; however, the statement showed that the actual profit earned on investment during 2012-13 was Rs 145.40 million with shortfall of Rs 613.94 million. The officials told the committee that the ETPB made investment of over Rs 970 million in the M/s Elysium Holding but did not avail the profit and now the case is in the court of law.
Elysium Holdings, reportedly owned by Kamran Kayani, the younger brother of former Army Chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, is also facing NAB action in multibillion rupees DHA City (Lahore) scam. Later talking to media persons, Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Khursheed Shah suggested the government to get army's help in dealing with Islamabad Sit-in staged by a religious party. Siddiq-ul-Farooq also endorsed Shah's comments and said that the government can seek the help of army in resolving the sit-in crisis.
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