ISLAMABAD: The Federal Government Employees Housing Authority (FGEHA) has detected a massive financial embezzlement in its Park Road Housing Scheme allegedly due to forged payments against the work never carried out.

According to sources, the contractor allegedly in connivance with the project director and others withdrew the mobilisation advance of Rs719 million on a fake bank guarantee, while there is also a big question mark on interim payment certificates (IPC), also known as running bills.

Besides, huge variations in quantities and the incorporation of extra contractual (non-bill of quantities) have also been also detected.

The sources said the issue came under discussion in a meeting of the FGEHA Executive Board on Thursday which was presided over by Federal Secretary Housing Dr Shahzad Khan Bangash. The board showed its concerns over the alleged fraud and fake payments and directed a full-fledged inquiry to fix the responsibility.

FGEHA board orders inquiry into scam

The scheme is a joint venture of the FGEHA and the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) and is being developed near Comsats University on Park Road in revenue estates Tamma and Mariyan. There are a total of 4,781 plots, out of which, 2,088 are for the FGEHA and 2,693 are for the SCBA members.

According to the FGEHA, this scheme was initiated in pursuance of the two orders of the Supreme Court of Pakistan given in April 2015. The said land was to be acquired on a parity basis of 50 per cent each for the SCBA and the federal government employees.

The sources said FGEHA Director General Muhammad Zafar Iqbal had directed strict action against all those involved in this alleged scam. They said the project director had been suspended while the case had been referred to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for further probe.

Moreover, the scrutiny of the IPC-3 (running bill) in the wake of the bank guarantee revealed that the accumulative amount of the first two IPCs, verified by an engineer representative (ER), is Rs283 million within a timeframe of eight months. While the another IPC verified by the ER was amounting to Rs1.4 billion within a period of 40 days only, indicating massive irregularities.

After referring the case to the FIA, they said, work on site had been suspended for 15 days.

The FGEHA has also written a letter to consultant Nespak for the immediate replacement of the engineer and the engineer representative and also recommended action against them.

The contractor, through an official letter, had been directed to immediately submit a valid bank guarantee as per the contract agreement.

Meanwhile, the sources said the matter was also referred to the concerned ministry to hold an inquiry on a fake bill and forged bank guarantee.

The sources said last week, the SCBA, through a letter, also expressed concerns over alleged fraud in this scheme, and subsequently, the FGEHA held a meeting with the SCBA representatives and shared with them the details of the action taken by the authority against those involved in the scam.

In the past, the said scheme faced controversy during the acquisition of land as many locals refused to sell their land to the FGEHA at the government rate. However, the rate has been revised, and now negotiations between the authority and local landlords are underway to resolve the issue of remaining land amicably.

Published in Dawn, February 23rd, 2024