September 03, 2006	Sunday	Sha'aban 9, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, Sept 2: The People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP) Senator Enver Baig on Saturday demanded of the government to sack chairman of the Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority (Erra) Altaf Salim and arrest him immediately for his alleged involvement in over Rs10 billion irregularities in the banking sector.

Speaking at a news conference at the party’s media centre here on Saturday, the PPP senator said that even the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) had taken notice of the irregularities being committed by the Crescent Group, owned by Mr Salim.

Giving details, Mr Baig said the SECP had issued a notice to the Crescent Group highlighting “severe and deliberate violation of procedures and financial irregularities, illegal maintenance of parallel account books, concealment of bank assets, unauthorized massive funding to group companies, unlawful investment in real estate and unlawful investment in stock exchange.” He said the SECP had issued the notice to the group under sections 282-E and 282-F of the Companies Act.

Mr Baig termed it a biggest fraud in the country’s banking history and asked the government to put the names of all the members of the board of directors of the group on the exit control list (ECL). He claimed that according to his information some members had either already fled or were planning to leave the country. He said besides Erra and Crescent Group, Altaf Salim was also the chairman of Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL), Business Support Fund and Pakistan Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation Limited (PICIC). He said as the government money was involved in the SNGPL and Business Support Fund, therefore, Mr Salim should also be sacked as chairman of these entities.

Mr Baig asked the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to wake up from the deep sleep and take action against those who were busy in plundering the national wealth with both the hands under the patronage of the present rulers. He demanded of the government to freeze the accounts of all the 26 companies being run by the Crescent Group. He said all those big businessmen involved in financial irregularities had the backing of a banker Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, who knew that these people would become his clients in future after his quitting the job of the prime minister.

The PPP senator said the Crescent Group had also got loans worth millions of rupees written off from various banks of the country in the year 2005. He asked the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the SECP to appoint administrators in Crescent Leasing and Crescent Bank as it was the responsibility of the government to protect public money.

Quoting media reports, he said, the Crescent Investment Bank Limited (Cres Bank) faced serious financial crisis due to its heavy involvement in speculative transactions in Karachi Stock Exchange.

He said the total capital of the bank was around Rs1 billion and its total involvement in speculative shares transactions were around Rs10 billion. In order to avoid bankruptcy, some big players of the bank used their political influence.