12 put on ECLin Rs25b GrandHyatt Hotel case

LAHORE: The interior Ministry has placed the 12 prime accused, including two retired senior military officers and a former CDA chairman, on Exit Control List (ECL) in the Grand Hyatt Hotel (also known as One Constitution Avenue) scam that caused a loss of Rs 25 billion to the national exchequer, The News learnt.

The 12 influential accused have been restrained from leaving the country as they are nominated in an FIR registered against them by FIA on the charges of cheating, fraud and forgery.

A senior official in the ministry, seeking anonymity, told this correspondent that accused placed on ECL were: CDA former Member State Brig (retd) Asad Munir (CNIC 17301-1229128-5, passport AL 0721283), CDA former Member Planning & Design Brig (retd) Nusrat Ullah (31202-0300074-9), CDA former chairman Kamran Lashari (35202-2638359-1, AA 8843594), BNP Pvt Ltd CEO Abdul Hafeez Sheikh (33100-096036-5, AA 5196363), his wife Shazia Hafeez Sheikh (33100-0867824-0, AM 5198243), his father Sheikh Abdul Majeed Sheikh (33100-2860281-7, AH 5192814), his brother Abdul Hameed Sheikh (33100-1017362-1, AH 5192814), BNP Pvt Ltd Director Imran Ahmed (33100-0960244-9, FG 1152443), CDA former Director Estate Management-II and now Overseas Pakistanis Foundation (OPF) MD Habib ur Rehman Gilani (35202-9344730-3), CDA former Member Engineering Mian Moin ud Din Kakakhel (61101-1945421-5, AA 4364421-1), CDA former Member Admin Shoukat Ali (17301-1313668-3, FA 1796682) and CDA former Member Finance Kamran Ali Qureshi (61101-6410935-1, AE 4919353).

The official said the FIA Lahore had requested the ministry to place these names on the ECL soon after registering an FIR No 10/2017 in May this year, adding that the ministry took six months only to fulfil legal formalities.

“It has been decided to place the names on ECL under Section 2 of the Exit from Pakistan (Control) Ordinance, 1981, for a period of three months on the recommendation of FIA as they are involved in case FIR No 10/2017 on the charges of wrongful gain to the tune of Rs 25 billion approximately in connivance with each other by causing a huge loss to the government exchequer by way of committing forgery, criminal breach of trust and misuse of official position”, an order of the Ministry reads. All concerned are requested to take immediate action in the matter,” the order said. A senior FIA official told The News that Gilani had been given a one-time relief from the ECL as he wanted to travel abroad to attend a conference. A Grade-21 officer of Pakistan Administrative Services (PAS), Gilani has been holding the charge of OPF MD since July 20, 2016 before serving as Secretary Zakat and Ushr Department in Punjab as well as Tourism Development Corporation Punjab from 2013 to 2014.

To a question, the official told that no arrest had been made in the case so far as a court restrained them from arresting the accused till its final order.

On an inquiry conducted by the FIA Lahore, the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) of FIA Islamabad had registered an FIR against the BNP Pvt Ltd owner and former top officials of CDA as he allegedly in connivance with these officials sold out the luxury apartments to general public illegally in spite of giving a clear-cut undertaking to CDA that the apartments aren’t being sold and extracted billions of rupees through cheating and fraud.

The FIR was registered under Sections 409, 419, 420, 468, 471, 201, 109 of PPC read with 5 (2) 47 of Prevention Of Corruption Act (PCA), 1947 against the accused persons.

In March 2005, the CDA had auctioned the 13.5-acre plot to the BNP Group for Rs 4.88 billion. As the lease became controversial and THE FIA started probing the scandal, the CDA terminated the lease for the Grand Hyatt Hotel in August last year.

Initially, the inquiry was handed over to SIU Islamabad but later transferred to the FIA Lahore in December 2015 and after the probe FIR was lodged in May 2017. When contacted, Lashari confirmed that his name had been placed on the ECL and also intimated by the quarters concerned. To a question, Lashari said all the 12 people barred from leaving the country would challenge the decision. He was still surprised how a case was registered against him and other senior government officials after over a decade since the matter of construction at One Constitution Avenue came to light, he added.