NA body told FIA started probe into fake bank accounts in 2015

ISLAMABAD: The Director General Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Bashir Memon told the Standing Committee of the Interior Ministry that the FIA had started its investigation into Fake Bank Accounts Scam in 2015 and initially four fake accounts detected and in January their tally went up to 29.

“On 6th July [last], the Supreme Court had taken a suo motu notice of it and formed a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to probe it that started its investigation from Karachi and more than 70 investigating officers assisted the JIT and following the investigation total 924 fake bank accounts detected while around 500 departments were found involved in it,” the DG FIA told the Standing Committee of the National Assembly at the Ministry of Interior here on Friday.

The meeting of the Standing Committee of the Ministry of Interior was held with the chair of its Chairman, Raja Khurram Shahzad, in which the Islamabad Chief Commissioner and CDA Chairman Amir Ali Khan and DG FIA Bashir Memon gave the briefing to the committee on their respective departments.

The DG FIA told the standing committee on interior that the money laundering of over Rs42.37 billion was detected which was made through five banks. He told the committee that after the investigation all the record was handed over to the FIA in the light of the directions of the Supreme Court. “The actions were being taken against those officials of the banks who were involved in opening of Fake Bank accounts,” he told the committee.

He told the committee that a fake account of a company was also detected in Lahore and investigations were going on. He further told the committee that after a gap of seven years, the vacant posts started to be filled.

Member Committee Ms Marriyam Aurangzeb commented that in briefing the DG FIA were only raising the problems but did not talk about how to reform the existing laws.

The DG FIA told the committee that the assistant director in the FIA was getting salary of Rs90,000 per month while assistant director in NAB was getting Rs200,000 per month.

He also told the committee that there were more than 30,000 written complaints in the cyber wing and have only 10 investigation officers. “The FIA has established separate office of prosecution,” he said, adding the total approved strength of the FIA was about 3,529 from Grad 5 to Grade 22 and out of it, 799 posts are still vacant while 251 employees working on the deputation.

He said the total strength of the clerical staff of the FIA from Grade 1 to 16 is about 1,005 and out of it, 225 posts are still vacant and 23 were working on the deputation.

On this occasion, Chairman, Standing Committee on Ministry of Interior, Raja Khurram Shahzad directed the FIA to come up with the proposals to make the FIA more viable departments so that there should be no need of the NAB. “It would be better that the FIA should be closed rather than relying on the investigation officers in the Grades 11 and 14,” he remarked.

During the meeting, the members of the committee Sher Akbar, while complaining the attitude of the Department of the Passport and Immigration announced to walkout in the protest but on the insistence of the Chairman of the Committee, he did not do it and the Secretary Interior Ministry assured him for the resolution of its complaint within a week. While in a briefing, the CDA chairman told the committee that prior to 1980, the Islamabad was run through a Resident Magistrate of Rawalpindi and in 1980, Islamabad declared as a district and now has the status of Province but not provincial authority. He told the committee, the CDA now only has the status of the Planning and Development.

He said there are 2,500 officers, 12,892 employees and 3,000 ad hoc employees in the CDA. “After the establishment of the Municipal corporation, the DMA has taken a control of many departments,” he said.

He told the committee that more than Rs6.4 billion were deposited by the registration of the vehicles in Islamabad and there was a need to spend Rs2 billion from these funds to improve the working of the district government. He said the Department of Health was taken from the district government and handed over to the National Health Services.

The CDA chairman said it was his desire to make basic reforms in the CDA so that new opportunities created for the generation of the funds rather than selling plots to pay the salaries of the employees.

Chairman Standing Committee of the National Assembly on Ministry of Interior Raja Khurram Shahzad directed the CDA Chairman to send his proposal to the committee in this regard so that the committee should send its proposals to the government.