Sugar ‘Satta’ scam of Rs110 bn: FIA issues notices to eight major sugar mill owners

LAHORE: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Monday issued call up notices to eight sugar mill owners for their alleged involvement in sugar ‘Satta’ (speculative pricing) scam worth Rs110 billion.

The FIA has warned sugar mill owners that they can face arrest in case of non-cooperation with the FIA investigation team. The News has learnt that the FIA has summoned management of Chaudhary Sugar Mill owned by Maryam Nawaz and others on March 31, Ramzan Sugar Mill owned by Hamza Shahbaz and other has been summoned on April 2. JDW Sugar Mill (Tareen Group) has also been summoned for April 2. RYK Sugar Group owned by Moonis Elahi and others has been summoned for April 1. Al-Mu'izz Sugar Mill owned by Noman Shamim Khan has been asked to appear before the FIA investigation team on April 5. Mian Rashid and Mian Hanif, owners of Medina Sugar Mill, have been asked to appear on April 7 while Mian Tayyab of Hamza Sugar Mill has been summoned for April 8. Tandlianwala Sugar Mills owned by Humayun Akhtar has been summoned for April 12.

As per call up notices to above-mentioned mill owners, the FIA states, “Investigation teams of FIA have recovered humungous digital and other evidence which reveal that management of sugar mills, in active connivance with brokers/frontmen, have morphed into a sugar Satta Mafia, which is ramping up sugar-prices, dishonestly and fraudulently through a clandestine network (WhatsApp Groups), cheating & defrauding the consumers (esp. poor people) thereby fleecing exorbitant & undue prices and subsequently hiding the ‘crime-proceeds’ into secret, fake & unrelated third party-accounts & assets (money-laundering).”

It further states, “Evidence also reveals that bogus/fake books of accounts or parallel-books (katcha kathas) are being prepared to disguise these crime-proceeds. Evidence reveals that your sugar-mill, is no exception and, is knitted closely with the Satta Mafia. Thus you are hereby directed to appear (in person) before the Investigation Team. You are further required to bring your original CNIC and following record (original/soft copy), along-with you actual record of sugar-stocks (reflecting Counterparty, CNIC, quantity in MMT, rate per KG, date of sale & lifting) which have been sold since 1st November, 2020, ‘to or through’ the sugar Satta Players as documented in your Company’s original Ledgers/Vouchers. Bring actual record of sugar-stocks (reflecting Counterparty, CNIC, quantity in MMT, rate per KG, date of sale & lifting) which have been sold since 1st November, 2020, as declared to FBR. Thirdly, bring record of list of Bank Accounts (including A/C No, Title, Bank, Branch, Credit Turnover since 1st November, 2020), not bank-statements, which are/have been operated in the name of any employees/riders of your mills or employees/riders of your sugar-brokers, in addition to the List of Corporate Accounts of your mills.”

The owners have also been asked to provide inward & outward remittances (FTTs), since 1st November, 2020 made by/on behalf of their sugar-mills or its directors, CEO, brokers/frontmen, whether made through banking-channels, money-exchange companies or hawala.

The FIA in its call up notice warned mill owners that in case of purposeful omission to appear, failure to cooperate, the agency will proceed against the directors/CEO/top-management on the basis of evidence already available regarding their Satta Mafia linkages.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) expressed its strong reaction over this ongoing drive against millers and sugar dealers. In an interaction with Geo News, PSMA Chairman Iskander Khan claimed: "The solution of all these problems lies in 'QR-Code-Printing' on all sugar bags to eliminate tax evasion and monitor the sugar movements."