ISLAMABAD: Former Minister Faisal Vawda on Wednesday claimed that former Director General Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lt Gen Faiz Hameed (retd) was the “architect, mastermind and the biggest beneficiary” of the corruption case of £190 million National Crime Agency (NCA) scam commonly known as the Al-Qadir Trust case.
Talking to reporters about appearing before the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in the Al-Qadir Trust case, he said that the man who architect and designed the Al-Qadir Trust corruption case that Imran Khan was currently facing is Faiz Hameed. “The person who acquired the biggest benefit in this game of corruption is Faiz Hameed,” Vawda said.
He further said that this was a very small case and that bigger crimes would be uncovered when things were further probed. The ‘remains’ of Faiz Hameed are present in the Senate, he said, adding that Faiz Hameed played a role in sending Shehzad Akbar abroad.
The former minister said that to find corruption in a £190 million scam is not a rocket science. The NAB has asked many questions regarding the matter, he said, adding that he provided a written reply and also signed it. When the matter of repatriation of £190 million came, he was the federal minister and a sealed envelope was presented in a cabinet meeting and the matter was approved “hastily”, he said.
The sealed envelope shown in the cabinet meeting was also not part of the agenda of the meeting, he said, adding that at the time, he had said that a NAB case will be made in this regard.
He said that he and Fawad Chaudhry also raised questions regarding the matter.
He said that what had been taught to me by the “old Imran Khan”, today, I am fulfilling that duty. To a question, he said that even an enemy cannot do what President Arif Alvi did with Imran Khan.
Meanwhile, Awami Muslim League (AML) chief and former interior minister Sheikh Rasheed did not appear before the NAB as he was also summoned by the anti-graft body in the same case.
Rasheed in his reply denied receiving NAB’s summon notice and added the name under which he received the notice, has died a year ago. Citing dire threats in response to the NAB, Rasheed said police are raiding his house for the arrest. The record of the cabinet meeting is available with the government, he said.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023