KARACHI: An anti-corruption court granted on Thursday interim pre-arrest bail to former commerce minister and central leader of the Pakistan People Party Makhdoom Amin Fahim in a dozen cases pertaining to a multi-billion-rupee trade subsidy scam.

The PPP leader with former prime minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani and some former and serving senior officials of the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) and some private persons were booked by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in 12 cases for their alleged involvement in approval and disbursement of fraudulent trade subsidies of billions of rupees to several fake companies through fictitious claims and backdated cheques during the tenure of the last PPP government.

Amin Fahim, who was on protective bail from the Sindh High Court, turned up with the former premier before an anti-corruption court on Thursday and through his lawyer moved a bail application.

The judge of the special federal anti-corruption court-I, Mohammad Azeem, granted interim pre-arrest bail to the former commerce minister against a surety bond of Rs200,000 in each case till Aug 5.

Both PPP leaders through their counsel moved applications seeking exemption from personal appearance in the court and the judge issued notices to the FIA for arguments on the pleas on the next hearing.

Meanwhile, the court reissued non-bailable warrants for the arrest of the absconding accused by Aug 5.

A court official said the former prime minister turned up for a routine appearance as the cases were fixed for hearing on Thursday, adding that the court had already granted bail to Yousuf Raza Gilani on a personal bond on June 17 when he surrendered himself before the court on the very next hearing after the issuance of non-bailable warrants and assured the court about his presence in the future. However, the bail granted to Amin Fahim was interim and subject to confirmation or otherwise, he added.

The prosecution story was almost the same in every case, but the FIA had divided the embezzled amount into parts and made a little alteration about the number of absconders and suspects in custody to distinguish the cases.

Besides the two PPP leaders, then deputy secretary (personal) to PM secretariat Mohammad Zubair, Farhan Junejo, Faisal Siddique, Mehr Haroon Rasheed, Mian Tariq, Zafar Hussain, Noman Siddiqui, Syed Mohibullah Shah and others had also been charge-sheeted and shown as absconders while former chairman of the TDAP Tariq Iqbal Puri, some ex-directors general of the TDAP and others were shown in custody and the names of over five suspects were not sent up for trial.

The charge sheets said the embezzlements were made in freight subsidies announced by the ministry of commerce under the trade policy for 2002-03 to promote export of non-traditional items which brought less than $5 million annually.

While reproducing the alleged roles of the two PPP stalwarts in the final investigation reports, the FIA recalled that Faisal Siddique was a front man of the former prime minister and said both had been confined to the Adiala prison in the past and become close to each other during their captivity and walked out of prison as friends.

The FIA reports claimed that Faisal Siddique and M. Firdous, who had become approver, had visited the Prime Minister’s House to give Rs5 million to the former prime minister for allegedly directing the chief executive of the TDAP to approve subsidy claims as desired by Faisal Siddique. It said Mohammad Zubair, deputy secretary (personal) to the PM secretariat, had received the money.

The major share of the funds disbursed to various firms went into the hands of Faisal Siddique through his front men Mian Tariq, Mehr Haroon Rasheed and others, the FIA added.

The investigation reports said that on directives of former commerce minister Amin Fahim, Farhan Junjeo, an officer (BPS-18) under suspension and facing departmental inquiry, was requisitioned from the Sindh government and inducted into the ministry in August 2009. Farhan Junjeo was made director in the commerce minister’s office and he issued directives in subsidy cases.

He worked in the commerce ministry without salary as the accountant general of Sindh had not issued the last pay certificate over his unauthorised absence, thus his appointment was against the law, the reports added.

The major chunk of the subsidy amount came into the hands of Farhan and Faisal, the alleged front men of Amin Fahim and Yousuf Raza Gilani, the reports said.

Around 70 cases pertaining to the trade subsidy scam against the former chairmen, ex-chief executive and other senior officials of the TDAP and the private accused persons were pending before court and of which the former premier and his cabinet colleague have so far been named in 12 cases.

Published in Dawn, July 11th, 2014