Eden Housing Society scam: Main accused arrested from Dubai, says Fawad

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain Wednesday said the son-in-law of former chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Chaudhry had been arrested from Dubai in a case regarding the multi-billion Eden Housing Society scam, which he termed a major breakthrough.

Talking to journalists here, the minister termed the arrest of Murtaza Amjad by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in the UAE a major success in the government's campaign for accountability. He pointed out the warrant for his arrest were issued by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

Fawad claimed that former CJP Chaudhry had made the shocking decision by hearing a case regarding the housing scheme himself, and later gave ‘relief’ to its owners because they were the in-laws of his daughter.

The minister went on to say that others having their names in the case included Iftikhar Chaudhry's son Arsalan Iftikhar, his daughter and the father-in-law of his daughter.

He was confident that some concrete development about the arrest of the other accused was expected today. He pointed out that Prime Minister Imran Khan had sought a report regarding arrests in the case within 24 hours. The media reports said that the affected people of the Eden Housing Society on Sunday last held a demonstration outside the residence of Prime Minister Imran Khan, urging him to help them recover their hard-earned money, allegedly looted by the group that had launched the housing scheme.

The protesters demanded that the PTI government should bring Eden Housing group owner Dr Amjad and others back from Canada and recover the looted money from them or ensure the group must complete the project and hand them over the houses and plots promised to them.

There are at 200-300 affected people of the group. Dr Amjad and his two sons had managed to flee the country in April last and travel to Canada, for, the Ministry of Interior had not put their names on the Exit Control List (ECL) despite request made by NAB.