LAHORE: A special (banking) court on Friday summoned PML-Q leader and former federal minister Chaudhry Moonis and others on Oct 11 as the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) filed its challan (investigation report) in a case of alleged money laundering against them.Besides Elahi, the agency in its 31-page report nominated Nawaz Bhatti, Mazhar Abbas and Wajid Khan Bhatti as main suspects. Nawaz is a close relative of Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi’s principal secretary Muhammad Khan Bhatti.

The agency alleged that the turnover in 32 bank accounts of Nawaz was over Rs24 billion. The report contained details about 42 benami and six fake bank accounts operated by the suspects. It accused Elahi of operating nine benami bank accounts.

The report alleged that Nawaz and Mazhar were the accomplices of Elahi in the financial fraud as they owned 61 shares of Rahim Yar Khan Sugar Mills.

The FIA registered the FIR under sections 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of a common intention), 109 (punishment for abatement), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and 471 (using a genuine forged document) of the Pakistan Penal Code, read with section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947 and section 4 of the Anti Money Laundering Act, 2010.

The FIR said in the light of the sugar commission’s report, the FIA was mandated by the federal government to probe financial and corporate frauds committed by various sugar mills, including Rahim Yar Khan/Alliance Sugar Mills.

It said the inquiry revealed that several low profile individuals jointly set up RYK Sugar Mills Ltd in 2007-8 at Rahim Yar Khan. The FIR said the mill was set up by laundering funds from unexplained sources, including proceeds of financial crimes.

Published in Dawn, October 1st, 2022