Public sector LPG import scam identified

ISLAMABAD: The management of Sui Southern and SLL (SSGC LPG Limited) landed in trouble for allegedly abusing the exemption from PPRA rule while importing LPG.

The Petroleum Division, in line with the letter from FIA, has asked Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) to initiate an inquiry against those SLL top officials who were allegedly involved in fraud and scam of imported LPG.

This has been disclosed in a letter the Petroleum Division dispatched to Ogra on May 19, 2025 asking for required action as per rules after getting the official correspondence from Corporate Crime Circle, FIA, Karachi, on the LPG import scam by SSGC and SLL.

Earlier FIA, Karachi, sent on April 24, 2025, its correspondence to Secretary Petroleum Division with an application FIA received from one Syed Imran Bukhari, s/o Syed Muhammad Aslam Bukhari, in FIA Karachi Zone.

This correspondent approached acting SSGC Managing Director Mohammad Amin Rajput to know whether the management of Sui Southern and its subsidiary SLL is involved in the alleged LPG import scam by misusing the exemption of PPRA rules. He responded that he had never been directly involved in SLL matters as he is a non-executive board member. He said he knows it’s a public sector company so all procurements are done legally.

The News also tried to take version of Jawad Ali Khan, Managing Director of SSGC LPG Limited (SLL), but he didn’t respond.

Syed Imran Bokhrai in his complaint titled “Application for stern legal action or registration of criminal case against the management of SGGC and fraudsters involved in fraud and scam of imported LPG” mentions that in April 2023, SSGC LPG Limited (SLL) a subsidiary of Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL), was given exemption from PPRA Rules to import LPG at negotiated prices. This exemption has since been extended twice. Under exemption from Rule 40 of PPRA Ordinance, SSGC is entitled to negotiate with any bidder after the bid opening and determine with “Most Advantageous Bidder,” on the basis of negotiation. “Using this exemption and government resources, SLL management is purchasing LPG worth $20 million per month (Rs5.7 billion a month) from private UAE-based suppliers as pricing is advantageous for them personally and suppliers and not the people of Pakistan. Any bidding process permitting negotiation of price post determination of the supplier, and that too not based on urgency/emergency but for fixed periods of time, renders procurement completely non-transparent. And the perusal of the method adopted to negotiate and determine the “Most Advantageous Bidder” for cargoes supplied during October 2023 indicates that the process is non-transparent.”

Bokhari also argues that the management of SSGC & SLL does not only procure and import LPG in a non-transparent manner but also disposes it of in a discretionary manner without following a tendering process.