From Abid Usman
LAHORE: The Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) anti-money laundering circle, Lahore on Thursday registered a case against eight people, including former Principal Secretary of ex-CM Parvez Elahi Muhammad Khan Bhatti, for giving posts to favourites in return for millions of rupees in bribe.
Money laundering-related clauses were also inserted in the case.
Besides Bhatti, SDO Highway Rana Muhammad Iqbal and other employees of the highway department were also nominated in the case.
According to the text of the FIR, Iqbal kept bribing former Punjab Assembly secretary for years for getting the post of his liking.
It was further stated that the PML-Q leader Moonis Elahi and PTI MPA Ali Afzal Sahi would be present at the house of Bhatti at the time of payment of bribe.
On the other hand, FIA decided to shelve the case against former PTI leader Jahangir Tareen and his son Ali Tareen.
FIA Lahore investigation team had registered a case of fraud and money laundering of Rs 7 billion against Jahangir Tareen and Ali Tareen on March 2021. The FIR states that Jahangir Tareen allegedly transferred illegal shares worth billions of rupees to Farooqi Pulp Mills Limited (FPML), which is owned by his son and close relatives.
According to FIA officials, the money laundering case was not proven, hence, the FIA officials decided to close the case.
In this regard, FIA officials have prepared a plan of action to dispose of the case. They will approach the concerned magistrate for quashing the proceedings of the case soon.
