The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) secured arrest warrants for Moonis Elahi, the son of former Punjab chief minister Pervaiz Elahi, just as it geared up for registering criminal cases against people found to be involved in the Rs4.45 billion National Insurance Company Limited (NICL) scam.
The process for extraditing Mohsin Habib Warraich also picked up pace as the FIA provided additional information and completed the documentation sought by Britain’s Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca). Mohsin Warraich is a British citizen.
FIA had earlier sought the agency’s help in extraditing of Warraich and freezing bank accounts operated by Mohsin and his wife Beenish Khan, who is also the daughter of a former federal minister Naseer Khan.
According to FIA data, Beenish Khan’s accounts contain in excess of £100,000.
Meanwhile, FIA’s Punjab bureau has contacted the Sindh home secretary and the provincial inspector-general of police along with proclamation orders of accused Amin Qasim Dada.
The FIA authorities requested the Sindh Home Department and Sindh Police high-ups to circulate these proclamation orders among police stations across the province with directions to ensure his early arrest and registration of criminal cases against people who were providing sanctuary to Dada, a proclaimed offender, under Section 216 of the PPC.
The FIA also sent a similar circular to the Punjab home department and IGP along with proclamation orders of Rana Muhammad Ali, an employee of the Warraich family and the remaining accused. It also requested the police to get criminal cases registered in local police stations against persons for providing shelter to proclaimed offenders.
The FIA also raided the residence of Imran Malik for arresting Rana Muhammad Ali, but Rana managed to escape, FIA officials said.
A case has been registered against Imran Malik for sheltering an accused wanted in the NICL scam who is also a proclaimed offender.
Additional Director General of FIA Zafar Ahmed Qureshi on Friday convened a meeting regarding progress on NICL cases.
Qureshi moved to change the compositions of the two teams investigating the NICL scam: the first team, launching a probe against DG FIA Waseem Ahmed, will be led by Zafar Qureshi and include Acting Director FIA, Punjab, Waqar Haider, Deputy Director of the agency’s Commercial Banking Circle Basharat Mehmood Shahzad and Assistant Director FIA Anti-Corruption Circle Khalid Anees. The second team will consist of Deputy Director FIA Corporate Crime Circle Javed Shah and Assistant Directors Muhammad Ahmad Chaudhry and Khalid Aneees.
Zafar Qureshi told The Express Tribune that the process would not be stopped despite the assurance of Moonis’ counsel regarding appearance in the court next week. “If Moonis fails to appear before the investigation team, he will be brought back with the help of Interpol,” Qureshi said.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 29th, 2011.
