* FIA Sindh chapter will soon register three more cases for dubious land purchase agreements in Karachi and Dubai

By Asad Kharal

LAHORE: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Punjab chapter, has registered another case against 11 accused, including National Insurance Company Limited (NICL) Chairman Ayaz Khan Niazi and nine others in Rs 1.6 billion land purchase scam.

FIA Sindh chapter, on account of dubious land purchase agreements by Ayaz Niazi and other officials, will soon register three more cases. The accused had also purchased properties in Korangi (Karachi) and Dubai, sources said

Cases were also registered by FIA Anti-Corruption Circle Police Station in Lahore against Mohsin Habib Warraich, son of former minister for defence production Major ® Habibullah Warraich, NICL Chairman Ayaz Niazi, Karachi NICL Real Estate General Manager Syed Zahid Hussain, Executive Director Muhammad Zahoor, former general manager Sheikh Ejaz Ahmad, central zone Lahore Executive Director Ayub Saddique Butt, Investment Committee Director Amin Qasim Dada, Audit Committee Director Javed Syed and members of the board of directors, Syed Naveed Hussain and Syed Hur Riahi Gardezi.

According to preliminary investigations, Mohsin purchased land measuring 20 kanals and two marlas in Sehjpal and Gohawa villages from five people from 2002 to 2007 for only Rs 13 million to sell it to NICL for Rs 1.6 billion.

Mohsin received a cheque of Rs 250 million as advance from the NICL on July 10, 2009 while five other cheques of Rs 815.3 million were issued on August 4, 2009 despite the fact that this land had not been transferred to the NICL until January 28, 2010.

The average land price in the area was Rs 8.5 million per kanal, but the NICL purchased the land at a cost of Rs 53 million per kanal

In this scam, Mohsin’s wife, also prominent in the beneficiaries but not named in the FIR, could also be interrogated, sources said. The FIA ACC team has collected the relevant record from the NICL and the Revenue Department.

Punjab FIA’s Director Zafar Ahmed Qureshi claimed that Niazi, Amin Dada, Javed Syed and Mohsin Warriach would soon be arrested.