The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has registered fraud and money laundering cases against estranged PTI leader Jahangir Tareen and his son, Ali Tareen, it emerged on Wednesday.
An FIA Lahore investigation team registered cases of alleged fraud of billions of rupees on March 22 against the accused. According to the FIRs, two separate cases were registered under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating of public shareholders) and 109 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), read with sections 3/4 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act. One of the complaints said Jahangir Tareen transferred Rs 3.25 billion from JDW company to his son-in-law’s closed paper manufacturing company Farooqui Pulp. The money, the authority said, was then transferred to the accounts of different members of the family. “The transfers, especially after FY 2011-2012, were patently fraudulent investments which ultimately translated into personal gains for the family member of the JDW CEO,” the FIR said.
It said that during this period, Tareen, his son and other family member purchased cash (US$) from the open market in Lahore in a “structured manner”. “Subsequently, in 2016, Ali Khan Tareen remitted approximately US$7.4 Million to the United Kingdom for purchasing properties (to be investigated in detail during the course of investigation) which makes them liable for Anti-Money Laundering investigation,” it said. The FIA stated that Tareen, his son, son-in-law Waleed Akbar Faruki and Shahid Akbar Faruki beneficially controlled FPML and personally benefitted from this scheme.
In the second FIR, the investigation agency said “voluminous withdrawals amounting to at least Rs2.2 billion were fraudulently and dishonestly made through a trusted cash rider.” It noted that Amir Waris, employed as a cashier at JDW’s Corporate Head Office, deposited large amounts into the personal and business accounts of Tareen and his family members.
“This modus operandi of cash-based misappropriation and money laundering was employed to break the onwards money trail of deposits into personal and business accounts of the accused Tareen and family,” it said.
It also stated that Rana Nasim Ahmed, JDW CEO, was also given large amounts from the company’s accounts to the tune of Rs600 million. “He claims these humungous amounts as salary, bonuses and ‘gentlemanly-agreed’ benefits.”
Earlier this week, the FIA had summoned the chief financial officers (CFOs) and heads of sales of eight major sugar groups in connection with the ‘speculative price-hike’ of the sweetener. “The FIA summoned the chief financial officers (CFOs) and heads of sales of PTI’s Jahangir Tareen’s JDW Sugar Mills for April 2, Maryam Nawaz and Sharif family’s Chaudhry Sugar Mills on March 31, Punjab Assembly Opposition Leader Hamza Shahbaz’s Ramzan Sugar Mills on April 2, Madina Sugar Mills of Kissan group on April 7, Hamza Sugar Mills on April 8 and three others in the sugar scam. The owners of these sugar groups will be summoned at the later stage,” reports said.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Senator Shibli Faraz Wednesday said that the sugar mafia can’t escape accountability, even if they belong to any party, including the ruling (PTI) Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.
In a tweet, he blamed speculators and mafias for creating uncertainty in the market which led to the surge in the prices of sweetener. He said that Prime Minister Imran Khan always kept the interest of the people of Pakistan supreme. “The law will take its course indiscriminately against those who create hurdles in the ongoing relief efforts to public will be dealt with iron hands,” he added.
