Aimless passport scam investigators reach London

LONDON: A Joint Investigation Team (JIT) from the Interior Ministry is in London to “investigate” the issue of Olympics passport scandal but they are clueless as what to do and where to begin from.
Within hours of their arrival, Pakistan High Commission told The News that the JIT members had not contacted them for any assistance and were operating independently. “The High Commission is neither aware of any JIT in London nor has the Ministry of Foreign Affairs intimated of any team so far,” said the spokesperson.
Separately, an official said the team was sent to London against the advice of Pakistan High Commission. It was told to the Interior Ministry in clear terms that the visit will have no legal effect and it will not take the investigation anywhere but this advice was over-ruled. It may be recalled that the Interior Minister had mentioned about issuing red warrant and using the Interpol’s channel to get Muhammad Ali Asad, the central character of the passport scandal. Apparently, the legal process for the red warrant, to be served through the diplomatic channels, has not been followed as an option.
The team members were wondering on Saturday what to do as they have been advised that they don’t have legal powers to summon Muhammad Ali Asad for questioning. The JIT was advised by some people that they can serve a summon to Asad’s residential address and although that can be done, it will have no legal binding power and will not mean anything. The only option the JIT members have is to get a letter written by a solicitor to Mr Asad, requesting him to cooperate with the team but this will again mean nothing as far the investigation is concerned.
But the central character of the passport scandal Muhammad Ali Asad was defiant on Saturday and set his own conditions for meeting with members of the investigation team.
“I am ready to meet them but I will charge them £1,000 per hour and only in the evenings when I am off from work. If they (the JIT members) try to pull any stunt I will have the British police involved and will take legal action against them,” he said.
It will be entirely up to Mr Asad if he willingly agrees to meet the team but his resolve to involve his own legal team against the JIT members poses many serious questions for those who decided to send team over to London in the first place, without thinking through the available options and especially in view of the fact that the British government will not cooperate with Pakistani investigation at any level.
The government of Pakistan has always used the offices of Pakistan High Commission to send summons and letters on behalf of the government of Pakistan.
During the Memogate controversy, Mansoor Ijaz was served summons when he visited Pakistan High Commission to obtain visa for Pakistan. The same channel has been used to send court summons to former military dictator Pervez Musharraf who lives in London.
The Federal Investigative Authority (FIA) has declared Asad as the main accused in the passport scam which caused sensation just before the start of London 2012 Olympics, alleging that Pakistan passport system was open to abuse and terrorists could enter London with Pakistan’s Olympics squad to attack the games.
The Pakistani government has registered a case against Asad for fraud, impersonation and mis-declaration, and also announced to seek his deportation from the United Kingdom and get him arrested through the Interpol but nothing has come of any of these pronouncements. The cabinet had decided to sue the tabloid for fabricating the “passport scam” story but no action has been taken against the paper either.