KARACHI, Oct 2: An anti-corruption court indicted on Wednesday a former director-general of the Employees’ Old-Age Benefits Institution (EOBI) and five private persons allegedly involved in a land scam which caused a huge financial loss to the national exchequer.

The then DG (investment) of EOBI, Wahid Khursheed Kunwar, former head of EOBI investment committee Iqbal Dawood Pakwala, purported owners of disputed land retired colonel Ali Asad Mirza, his wife Nighat Mirza and their daughter Maham and Hazoor Bux Naeem Sheikh, official of a company who evaluated the land, have been charged for their involvement in the purchase of the four-acre disputed piece of land in 2011-12 near Karachi airport for a hefty payment.

The judge of the special federal anti-corruption court, Tasneem Sultana, read out the charges against the accused who pleaded not guilty and opted to contest the charges.

The court summoned prosecution witnesses and directed the Federal Investigation Agency to produce them for evidence on Oct 8.

According to the prosecution, the EOBI officials finalised the deal on the directives of Wahid Khursheed to purchase the land in 2011-12 for over Rs2.23 billion, which was much higher than its actual market value. The payment was transferred to the accounts of Col Mirza’s wife and daughter, who were signatories to sale deed documents and financial beneficiaries of the deal, it added.

The prosecution said the EOBI paid another Rs2.7 million to the Civil Aviation Authority to obtain passage to the landlocked plot. Around Rs710 million was paid as kickbacks to Wahid Khursheed through his friend Shaikh Farrukh Saleem after which the deal was allowed by EOBI investment committee on Dec 2, 2011.

The committee was headed by Mohammad Iqbal Dawood with chairman EOBI Zafar Iqbal Gondal, Wahid Khursheed and employees’ representatives of EOBI Malik Imtiaz Mehfooz as members, said the prosecution.

The case against the accused was lodged under Sections 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant, or by banker merchant or agent), 419 (punishment for cheating by personation), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document) and 109 (abetment) of the Pakistan Penal Code read with Section 5 (2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act-II, 1947 at the FIA Commercial Bank Circle, Karachi.

Zafar Iqbal Gondal, Malik Imtiaz Mehfooz and Qasim Pervez, a representative of Wahid Khursheed, are absconders in the case.