LAHORE: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has arrested senior PPP leader Qasim Zia, who is also an Olympics gold medallist and former president of the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF), on charges of committing fraud through his brokerage house.

A NAB team raided the Lahore residences of Mr Zia and Usman Saeed, directors of Ali Usman Securities, on Friday night and took them into custody. They were presented before an accountability court on Saturday which remanded them in NAB’s custody for 10 days.

The PPP protested over the arrest of Mr Zia, terming it political victimisation. It said that while the director had been arrested, no action had been taken against the chief executive of the company.

NAB says Mr Zia and four other directors of the brokerage house are accused of committing a fraud of Rs80 million with about 80 people. “The accused received cash for buying shares of various companies in their names but transferred the money to their own accou­nts,” a spokesman told Dawn.

He said the accused were facing allegations of “cheating the public at large, misappropriation, embezzlement and criminal breach of trust”.

Punjab PPP Information Secretary Raja Amir, who met Mr Zia after his arrest, quoted him as saying: “I am shocked over the humiliating manner the NAB arrested me in a midnight raid.

“I am 25 per cent partner in the Ali Usman Securities. I have cleared all my liabilities with regard to people’s complaints. NAB had initiated the inquiry in 2008 and I appeared several times before an inquiry team and clarified my position. But I fail to understand why NAB has arrested me,” Mr Zia was quoted as saying.

Raja Amir said the action could not have been taken without approval of the Punjab government.

NAB said its Lahore director general had authorised a formal inquiry against the accused early this year. “There had been complaints against the directors of the brokerage house for quite some time. However, after getting substantial evidence against the accused a formal investigation was launched,” the spokesman said.

On the other hand, the Punjab PPP put its full weight behind its former chief. “The PML-N government should stop political victimisation of PPP leaders. The way Mr Zia was arrested in a midnight raid is both condemnable and regrettable,” provincial party chief Mian Manzoor Wattoo said at a news conference.

“Qasim Zia, the former Punjab PPP president, had faced no allegation while working as head of the PHF. Surprisingly, NAB has arrested him on some allegations for working in a private company while it did not lay hands on its chief executive,” he said and demanded Mr Zia’s immediate release.

Mr Zia was part of the national hockey team during 1980-87. He became president of the PHF in 2008 and served till 2013.

A recipient of Sitara-i-Imtiaz, he entered politics in early 1990s and remained a member of the Punjab Assembly twice (2002-07 and 2008-13) from Samundari in Faisalabad. He also served as leader of opposition in the assembly during his first term.

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2015

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