KARACHI: An anti-corruption court issued arrest warrants on Monday for former prime minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, former commerce minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim and others in seven more cases pertaining to the multi-billion trade subsidy scam.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) submitted to the court seven charge-sheets against the accused, raising the number of cases filed against the PPP leaders in the scam to 11.

Interestingly, the FIA in the final charge-sheets reproduced the allegations which it had included in the four similar cases filed on May 29. The investigating agency had declared Mr Gilani and Mr Fahim and some other accused as absconders.

The judge of Special Federal Anti-Corruption Court-I, Mohammad Azeem, accepted the final charge-sheets for hearing. He issued non-bailable warrants for the two leaders and other accused and directed the FIA to arrest and produce them before the court on June 17.

The PPP leaders along with some former and serving senior officials of the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) and private individuals had been accused of being involved in approving and disbursing fraudulent trade subsidies worth billion of rupees to several fake companies through fictitious claims and backdated cheques.

Besides the two leaders, former deputy secretary to Prime Minister’s Secretariat Mohammad Zubair, Farhan Junejo, Faisal Siddique, Mehr Haroon Rasheed, Mian Tariq, Zafar Hussain, Noman Siddiqui, Syed Mohibullah Shah and others have been declared as absconders.

The TDAP’s former chairman, Tariq Iqbal Puri, some former director generals and others have already been taken into custody.

Published in Dawn, June 3rd, 2014