KARACHI: Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Monday raided two offices of Aqeel Karim Dhedi (AKD) Securities here and arrested the firm's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Fareed Alam and two directors – Tariq Ghumra and Mohammed Iqbal – over fraud charges that caused a loss of Rs290 million to Employees Old-Age Benefit Institution (EOBI) in 2010, officials said.

A senior FIA official who was part of the raiding team told Dawn that the EOBI had purchased a textile company's stock, worth Rs330 million, in August 2010 on a research report provided by AKD Securities.

He said after the purchase, the share price of the stock plunged from Rs29 to Rs2 within three months, causing a loss of Rs290 million to the EOBI.

The FIA had earlier registered a First Information Report against 23 suspects including daughter of AKD, Ms Hina, the then chairman of EOBI, Zafar Gondal, and others. The case was registered under sections 409, 109 and 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code and the Anti-Corruption Act of 1947.

In pursuance of the case, the FIA raided AKD Securities offices in Clifton and Karachi Stock Exchange and arrested the said individuals.

AKD terms arrests a conspiracy

In an emergency press conference at the Karachi Press Club after the arrests, Aqeel Karim Dhedi termed the incident a 'conspiracy' against his group, saying AKD Securities is being targeted to benefit one of its competitors.

"The Securities and Exchanges Commission of Pakistan (SECP) regulates stock exchanges and did not penalise us on this research report," he said.

He claimed that the research report prepared by AKD Securities recommended the purchase of the stock at Rs9 per share but whoever purchased it on behalf of the EOBI did so at Rs19, adding that those who bought the stock had not been arrested but his firm's CEO was detained.

Dhedi went on to say he tried to contact FIA officials, who said the matter was in the hands of FIA Director Shahid Hayat.