Editor Report
ISLAMABAD:The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has registered the First Information Report (FIR) against 16 accused in a mega corruption scam of Rs 1.24 billion in the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP).According to the FIR, the accused that included APP’s two former executive directors, former accounts managers, a reporter and other officials, misused their authority and embezzled huge sums of public exchequer of Rs 1.24 billion from the organization’s funds.Managing Director APP, Mohammad Asim Khichi after holding an internal inquiry through the departmental committee had forwarded the report of Fact Finding Committee (FFC) to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Later on the special directions of Federal Minister for Information Atta Ullah Tarar, the report was referred to FIA for registration of the case.The accused included former executive directors Adnan Akram Bajwa and Mohammad Ghawas Khan, Reporter Furqan Rao, former accounts managers Arshad Majeed Chaudhry and Imran Munir, audit in-charge Tahir Ghumman, finance manager Usman Younus, special assistant Moazzam Javed Khokhar, cashier Azhar Farooq, MD’s secretary Ejaz Maqbool, assistant managers Ghulam Murtaza and Shahid Latif, provident fund in-charge Khurram Shahzad, and audit officers Idrees Ahmed Gujjar and Saqib Kaleem.Many of the accused escaped into hiding after registration of the case. FIA officials said all were given an opportunity to prove themselves innocent, but they failed to provide satisfactory answers. The agency announced further arrests and investigations to recover the embezzled funds and identify facilitators, including other APP staff, AGPR, and National Bank officers.The network of 16 accused was involved in the mega embezzlement scandal of Rs 1.24 billion from APP’s ERE (Employees Related Expenditures) and PF (Provident Fund).The APP’s officials stated that the action was part of the government’s anti-corruption drive under the directives of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Federal Minister for Information Attaullah Tarar, and Secretary Information Ambreen Jan. The employees and media organizations welcomed the step and called for strict legal action against all involved culprits.
