Remand of Ahad Cheema, others extended

LAHORE: An accountability court Tuesday extended physical remand of former LDA DG Ahad Cheema, chief executive officer (CEO) of Bismillah Engineering Shahid Shafiq and two others by April 26 in Ashiana Housing Scheme scam.

The NAB produced accused Ahad Cheema, Shahid Shafique, Bilal Qadwai and Imtiaz Haider before the court amid tight security as heavy contingents of police officials had cordoned off the NAB court premises.

The NAB officials on Tuesday informed the court that one Ali Sajjad Bhutta, chief financial officer (CFO) of Paragon City, has been included in the investigation. The investigators said during the course of investigation it revealed the Punjab government had already developed Ashiyana Housing Scheme. However, changes were made in the scheme just to sponsor Paragon City. He added that LDA awarded the contract in violation of given rules and regulations. The project’s worth was Rs 14 billion but development work on ground is only worth of Rs 15 million. Meanwhile, the court asked Shahid Shafiq about his health conditions if he was suffering from any illness. However, Shafiq showed no response to the court’s query. Then a NAB official intervened and said that the Shafiq has frequently retracted from his statements.

As per NAB, Ahad Cheema was arrested last month over the charges of misusing his authority and, with criminal intent, processing and awarding Ashiana-e-lqbal project contract worth Rs14 billion to Lahore CASA Developers, a joint venture a firm which was ineligible for the same. The contract, in connivance with other accused persons, was awarded in violation of PPP Act, 2014.

NAB inquiry further revealed that Bismillah Engineering Services Co (a major shareholder of JV titled Lahore CASA Developers) was a proxy firm working on behalf of Paragon City (Pvt) Ltd. Cheema allegedly received illegal gratification in the form of 32 kanals of land (valuing Rs30.09 million approximately from the owners of Paragon City (Pvt) Ltd.