LAHORE   -  The Supreme Court yesterday ordered shifting of the under-custody Omni Group Chairperson Anwar Majeed, his son Abdul Ghani Majeed and former chairman Pakistan Stock Exchange and Summit Bank Vice-Chairman Hussain Lawai to Islamabad from Karachi.

A two-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar passed the orders while hearing the case of money-laundering to the tune of billions of rupees, at its Lahore registry.

Anwar, his son Ghani and Lawai are among accused being probed for laundering billions of rupees through fake bank accounts. Of these fake bank accounts, many have been detected by the investigating agencies.

Chief Justice Saqib Nisar directed authorities to transfer Anwar Majeed to Islamabad and admit him to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) for his treatment while his son Abdul Ghani Majeed and Hussain Lawai should be sent to Adiala Jail.

Chief Justice observed that independent and unbiased investigation was hard to be carried out against the accused in Karachi as the accused were influential persons with big clout in that city. The CJP remarked that in the interest of fair and unbiased probe, the accused needed to be transferred so, they be shifted to Islamabad from Karachi.

“After the investigation is over, we will see whether they should be shifted back to Karachi,” he added.

Earlier, the joint investigation team (JIT) constituted for the case requested the court to transfer the accused to any station from the port city so that they could question them and hold investigation without any pressure. However, counsel for Anwar Majeed strongly opposed the JIT plea on various grounds.

When the counsel insisted on the retention of accused in Karachi, Chief Justice Saqib Nisar quizzed him, “Why are you repeatedly asking the court that Anwar Majeed and others should not be transferred from Karachi to anywhere?”

Justice Ijazul Ahsan, the other member of the bench remarked, “If the counsel is constantly insisting for retaining the accused in Karachi, it indicates certain motives behind the demand.”

The top judge turned down the objection and said that the accused had influence in Karachi which could affect the JIT’s working as well as court proceedings. “They should be shifted to Islamabad so that an independent investigation can be carried out.”

The chief justice also directed the JIT to complete and furnish its report in 10 days. The chief justice added that Anwar Majeed should be taken to Islamabad via air ambulance if his condition does not allow his travel through normal flight.

Majeed had failed to appear in court earlier this week as his lawyer presented a medical certificate, claiming his client was ill and couldn’t attend the hearing.

Later, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Director General Bashir Memon complained to the court about Majeed’s non-cooperation in the investigation.

In response, the top judge said, “The JIT probing the case has been given full authority to conduct the investigation and needs to find out how money earned through kickbacks was laundered.”

Presenting his case, the defence counsel said that Omni Group owes Rs1.2 billion to Silk Bank, Rs1.8 billion to Summit Bank, Rs4.98 billion to National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) and Rs4.6 billion to Sindh Bank, which will be paid in the form of cash and property.

Justice Nisar warned the counsel that legal action will be taken if the payments were not made by decided-upon dates.

The banks have filed criminal applications under Section 201(a) of the Financial Institutions (Recovery of Finances) Ordinance, 2001, seeking action against the CEOs/directors of sugar mills that are allegedly owned by the Omni Group, accusing them of pilferage of the sugar stocks, pledged against the bank loans acquired by them.

Majeed’s lawyer told the court that three banks had accepted the offer for payment of loan in exchange of properties, however, NBP was still reluctant, he added.

“Omni Group is willing to return the National Bank loan in instalments,” he said.

In response, the chief justice observed that the court did not have any objection to the settlement, but it will not ask the bank to accept the deal.

At this point, NBP’s counsel Naeem Bukhari said that the group must make all payments in cash as they had stolen sugar stock pledged with the bank.

An NBP representative also insisted on payment of the loan in cash with a demand for strict adherence to timeline offered by the group.

The chief justice remarked that the banks could get a criminal case registered against the group management. If the conditions are not fulfilled then the proceedings will start, he added.

The representative further submitted that the properties offered by the Omni Group should be pledged to the bank as mortgage and the sale proceeds should take place with the permission of the bank.

“The National Bank will receive all cash obtained from the sale and would distribute among the banks as per loan percentage,” he proposed, adding that the bank would act as security agent and lead bank in the process.

To which, the chief justice observed that all banks should finalise an intrabank agreement for recovery of their loans and submit the same, adding that the National Bank would be the lead bank.

As the hearing proceeded, Memon told the court that Omni Group was quoting inflated prices that were higher than the market value.

The top judge ordered that heads of all banks should present affidavits on property prices in court, adding that the court will take action if payments were not cleared by them.

Towards the end of the hearing, a counsel of missing persons told the court that two witnesses who appeared before the JIT in connection with the case were missing.

Justice Nisar replied, “The Sindh chief minister or his boss should be informed that they should recover them. Do you understand what I mean?”

The case was initially registered in 2015 against former Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSE) chairman Hussain Lawai, who is widely believed to be close to former president Asif Ali Zardari.

In July, Lawai was arrested in connection with the probe along with Anwar Majeed. Anwar’s son Abdul Ghani Majeed was also arrested by the FIA. Lawai, Majeed and his son are in custody since then for interrogation.

Investigations so far have revealed that several Benaami (anonymous) accounts at some private banks were opened in 2013, 2014 and 2015 from where transactions worth billions of rupees were made.

The amount, according to the FIA, is said to be black money gathered from various kickbacks, commissions and bribes.

 

SC orders shifting of Majeed, Lawai to Islamabad