ACE team arrests four suspects in fraud case

A team of the Sindh Anti-corruption Establishment (ACE), Hyderabad, arrested four accused persons in a case of alleged fraud of billions of rupees and large-scale cheating with the public.

An ACE team, headed by Deputy Director ACE Imran Dawach, arrested a man, son of a renowned builder, his wife, and two officers of the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) -- Deputy Director Afzal Sheikh and Assistant Director Jameel Chandio.

A judicial magistrate of Hyderabad on Friday granted bail to the woman and remanded the other three accused in police custody.

A case has been registered against the accused persons and their absconding accomplices after the approval of the high-level anti-corruption forum, Anti-Corruption-One (ACC-1), headed by Chief Secretary Sindh Syed Asif Haider Shah.

As per the FIR, a builder illegally converted a piece of SITE industrial land into commercial land in connivance with government officials, and Sindh Building Control Authority officers, who illegally approved basic and revised building plans.

ACE Director Imtiaz Abro told The News that the accused have defrauded the public of billions of rupees by colluding with government officials. He added that the efforts are on to arrest the remaining accomplices of the accused.

The ACE director concluded that in compliance with the directives from the ACC-I meeting held on October 9, 2024, the ACE Hyderabad Zone registered an FIR at the ACE Police Station, Hyderabad. Thirteen individuals have been nominated in the FIR and all accused persons have been declared involved in a large public scam related to the building project.