Khwaja brothers indicted in Paragon City scam

LAHORE: An accountability court on Wednesday indicted PML-N former ministers Khwaja Saad Rafique and Khwaja Salman Rafique and others in the Paragon City scam. As the hearing commenced, the court provided readable copies of a reference to the accused Khwaja brothers and asked whether they plead guilty or not. However, both the brothers refused to accept the charges after which the court framed charges and adjourned the hearing for regular trial proceedings. As per reference details, Qaiser Amin Butt, the main accused in the Paragon Housing scam, voluntarily disclosed the facts related to the commission of offence and requested pardon under Section 26 of the National Accountability Ordinance 1999 (NAO 1999), which was granted by the competent authority.

The NAB filed the reference against Kh Saad Rafique, Kh Salman Rafique, Nadeem Zia Pirzada, his son Umer Zia and Farhan Ali. The NAB stated in the reference that Saad Rafique, in connivance with his wife Ghazala Saad Rafique, brother Salman Rafique, Qaiser Amin Butt and Nadeem Zia, started a housing project namely Air Avenue, which was an illegal housing society. Later, it was converted into M/s Paragon City (Pvt) Ltd. Saad Rafique and Salman Rafique, in connivance with Nadeem Zia and Qaiser Amin Butt, defrauded members of the housing society. Saad opened a company, Executive Builders, in his and his wife’s name, and later converted it into Paragon and withdrew a large sum of amount from the account of Executive Builders. The Khwaja brothers embezzled the funds of the illegal housing society for personal gains, and collected heavy amounts despite clear directions from the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) that the society was illegal.

Moreover, the Khwaja brothers wrongfully received Rs 18.2 million from the Paragon City. The NAB stated that Kh Saad Rafique established a firm, namely Saadain Associates, and wrongfully gained Rs 58 million from M/s Executive Builders. Also, Kh Salman Rafique established a firm namely KSR Associates, and wrongfully gained Rs 39 million from M/s Executive Builders, which was a proxy concern of M/s Paragon City.

The NAB claimed Khwaja brothers owned 93.6 per cent shares of the Paragon City, while Qaiser Amin Butt owned 7.4 per cent shares.