ISLAMABAD SPECIAL COORESPONDENT
In a major development in the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) mega corruption case, Special Judge Central Humayun Dilawar on Tuesday rejected pre-arrest bail applications of 13 accused and ordered their immediate arrest. Following the verdict, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) arrested seven accused from the premises of the court.
The court was hearing bail petitions filed by Farqan Rao, Moazzam Javed Khokhar, Arshad Majid Chaudhry, Muhammad Ghaus, Azhar Farooq, Ejaz Maqbool, Saqib Kaleem, Khurram Shehzad, Idrees Ahmad, Shahid Latif, Ghulam Murtaza, Tahir Ghuman, Sajid Ali, Imran Muneer, and former Executive Director Adnan Akram Bajwa.
During the proceedings, all accused were marked present in court. FIA representatives informed the court that a case was registered after a transparent and comprehensive inquiry, and that solid documentary evidence exists against the accused.
Fraudulent Transfers from Salary and Provident Fund Accounts
FIA’s Assistant Director (Legal), Khushnood Bhatti, stated that several accused individuals were simultaneously drawing both salaries and pensions. They would include their names in the pension sheets, and upon issuance, transfer the additional funds into their own accounts.
He further revealed that provident fund deductions made from employees’ salaries—meant to be held in trust by the organization—were illegally transferred to a bank account located at the Holiday Inn hotel branch, withdrawn in cash, and then redistributed to various other accounts.
Arshad Majid Chaudhry, who served as Drawing and Disbursing Officer (DDO) from 2021 to 2024, transferred Rs. 66.1 million into his personal account, while cheques worth Rs. 180 million and Rs. 240 million were encashed with his signatures.
Azhar Farooq, a cashier, was personally involved in withdrawing cash from the bank. Rs. 80 million was allegedly transferred to his personal account.
Former Executive Director Adnan Akram Bajwa was found to have signed off on multiple financial vouchers and cheques unlawfully. Another ex-ED, Ghaus Khan, signed a cheque worth Rs. 70 million while the actual staff salaries only amounted to Rs. 30 million—indicating Rs. 40 million was siphoned off illegally.
Audit Failures and Unauthorized Transactions
Audit heads Idrees Chaudhry and Tahir Ghuman were accused of failing to flag irregularities in monthly reports. During their tenure, one accused reportedly received Rs. 9 million as salary, which went unaccounted for in any audit.
Investigating Officer Muhammad Junaid stated that Rs. 61,000 was transferred from a pension account into Saqib Kaleem’s personal account. Imran Muneer, who was in charge of the Provident Fund section, deposited Rs. 50 million into the Holiday Inn bank branch and withdrew it using three cheques—without any approval from the competent authority.
A departmental inquiry is also underway concerning Rs. 210 million worth of cheques that were cashed from the same bank branch. Muneer is further accused of transferring Rs. 28.4 million without approval.
Ejaz Maqbool received two cheques issued in the name of the then-Managing Director (MD) of APP, but records revealed that no MD had authorized or asked Maqbool to collect those cheques.
Courtroom Drama: Lawyers Absent, Accused Attempt to Flee
During the hearing, APP’s legal team—including Khurram Baig Advocate, Hasnain Haider Theem, and Roohail Irshad Rana—appeared in court. Advocate Rana argued that under Section 34 of the PPC, all accused are jointly liable and should be denied bail.
The judge questioned the absence of Farqan Rao’s counsel, to which Rao replied that his lawyer was busy in the High Court. The judge expressed displeasure and warned of bail cancellation.
Ghulam Murtaza’s lawyer presented a medical report claiming his client had a road accident, but the judge, unimpressed by the minor injury report, insisted the accused be produced in court or face cancellation of bail.
Khurram Shehzad’s lawyer, Qazi Adil Advocate, read out the contents of the FIR in court, stating that Rs. 90 million was transferred to Arshad Majid’s account, Rs. 80 million to Azhar Farooq, Rs. 30 million to the late Basharat Abbasi, and Rs. 7.5 million to Ghulam Murtaza—all working in the Accounts Section, with Arshad Majid serving as Accounts Manager. He allegedly transferred these funds from the Holiday Inn branch and from the Provident Fund without any official approval.
Moazzam Javed Khokhar was represented by a junior counsel who sought a delay in proceedings due to the senior lawyer’s absence, prompting the judge to warn that if senior counsel didn’t appear, he would reject both Moazzam and Farqan Rao’s bail applications.
Court Orders Arrests; Some Accused Flee
After hearing all arguments, the court rejected the bail pleas of Farqan Rao, Moazzam Javed Khokhar, Arshad Majid Chaudhry, Muhammad Ghaus, Azhar Farooq, Khurram Shehzad, Idrees Ahmad, Shahid Latif, Ghulam Murtaza, Tahir Ghuman, Sajid Ali Warraich, Imran Muneer, and Adnan Akram Bajwa, and ordered their arrest.
The FIA took into custody seven of the accused—Imran Muneer, Azhar Farooq, Tahir Ghuman, Khurram Shehzad, Idrees Chaudhry, Sajid Ali Warraich, and Muhammad Ghaus—from the courtroom. However, five others—Farqan Rao, Moazzam Javed Khokhar, Arshad Majid Chaudhry, Shahid Latif, and Adnan Akram Bajwa—managed to escape before the verdict was announced.
Bail was granted to two of the accused, Ejaz Maqbool and Saqib Kaleem.
It is worth noting that the APP administration had submitted a complaint to the FIA alleging embezzlement of Rs. 1.24 billion, upon which the agency launched a formal investigation.
