A parliamentary panel on Wednesday rejected the suggestion of sending Rs 3.8 billion financial scam of Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) to Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for probe, saying it will bring bad name for the country.
The chairman subcommittee of Public Accounts Committee Sardar Ayaz Sadiq while chairing the committee meeting said that Rs 3.8 billion financial irregularities were made in the name of Pakistan Sports Trust headed by Lieutenant General Syed Arif Hasan (retd), who was also the chief of Pakistan Olympic Association during SAF games in 2010.
The panel observed if such a big financial scam had emerged in the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government's tenure, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) would have started arresting people associated with the scam without starting a probe.
The audit officials told the panel that after 2010 SAF games, an entity with the name of Pakistan Sports Trust was created to promote different games in the country but the organisation could not achieve the objectives. The audit officials said that Rs 3.8 billion financial losses incurred to the national kitty as the institute failed to achieve the targets for which it was designed for.
Secretary Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination, Akbar Durrani told the panel that the entity has nothing to do with Pakistan Sports Complex. Durrani added that there is no record of the organisation and as it was operating without any office and the people associated with the institute had gone to the court.
Durrani said that the funds allocated for SAF Games 2010 were transferred to the Pakistan Sports Trust which was being supervised by Lieutenant General Arif Hasan (retd) who heads the Pakistan Olympics Association.
He said that after the passage of 18th Constitutional Amendment, Pakistan Sports Trust was to be handed over to Pakistan Sports Complex but it did not happen.
Durrani said that Pakistan Sports Trust got Rs 43.2 million from the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination and moreover it generated Rs 288 million through the sale of Hero Cards.
The panel asked the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination to answer why the government funds were transferred to an organisation having no grounds.
Audit officials said that there was no record of the funds generated through the sale of Hero Cards.