Bribes for govt jobs, transfers: Buzdar, Farah Gogi, Bushra’s son, bureaucrats booked by ACE

LAHORE: The Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) Wednesday registered a case against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief’s wife Bushra Bibi’s son, Ibrahim Maneka, former Punjab chief minister Usman Buzdar, Farhat Shahzadi alias Farah Gogi, senior bureaucrat Tahir Khurshid, Ahmed Aziz Tarar, Saleha Saeed, Usman Muazzam and Sohail Khawaja. According to the ACE, the accused took bribes worth millions of rupees for the appointment and transfer of high-ranking officials to various government departments. Amounts received in bribes were allegedly collected and deposited in different banks by Farah Gogi. Around Rs450 million have been recovered so far, claimed the ACE in the FIR. The FIR said the accused bureaucrats, in connivance with government and political authorities, abused the powers accorded to them to appoint and transfer individuals to high-ranking posts in the government.

The FIR said that senior bureaucrats -- Tahir Khurshid, Ahmed Aziz Tarar, Saleha Saeed, Usman Muazzam and Sohail Khawaja -- used to collect bribe money for appointments and transfers of high-ranking officials. These officers used to visit the house of Farah Gogi at DHA, 99-Y and provided her with her share worth millions of rupees. After collecting the amount of bribe from the officers, the personal staff, Ahmed Mansoor and Muhammad Asif, used to deposit it in her personal account in a private bank at Liberty branch Lahore. For the first time in the history of ACE, a few names from bureaucracy including Tahir Khurshid aka TK (former chief secretary of Punjab), Ahmed Aziz Tarar (DMG officer), Saleha Saeed (former deputy commissioner Lahore) have been included in the FIR, while in the past the former DGs of ACE were reluctant to lodge FIRs against the DMG officers.