KARACHI: A Customs court on Friday dismissed the bail application filed by a proclaimed offender in a case pertaining to import of bulletproof vehicles for Bahria Town allegedly on fake documents.

The Customs department had booked Naeem Malik, said to be associated with the real estate giant, along with others in a case pertaining to import of two bulletproof Land Cruisers from the United Arab Emirates allegedly on a fake no-objection certificate from the ministry of interior.

On Friday, the suspect appeared before the special Customs and taxation court and moved an application through his defence counsel seeking confirmation of his pre-arrest bail in the present case.

After arguments from the prosecutor and perusing case record, the judge dismissed the suspect’s plea for his bail confirmation.

Naeem Malik left the courtroom and tried to escape after dismissal of his bail confirmation plea, but the officials caught him and produced him before the court, the judicial staffers said.

The judge ordered his arrest and sent him to prison with direction to produce him on the next date.

According to a supplementary charge-sheet, filed by IO Anwar Zaib two brand new Toyota Land Cruiser bulletproof vehicles of Level-B6 were imported from the UAE on March 17, 2014.

It further mentioned that the bill of landing showed consignee as Bahria Town Private Limited, Bahria House, Rawalpindi and notified the party as Amir Malik, Phase-VIII, Defence Housing Authority, Lahore.

It said that the goods declaration dated March 28, 2014 for the clearance of both the imported bulletproof vehicles was filed by a customs agent M/s Jumbo International, Karachi, duly supported with an NOC for retrofitting/armouring of two vehicles into bulletproof vehicles (B6-Level) purportedly issued by the ministry of interior on March 15, 2013.

According to the NOC, the vehicles were to be used exclusively by the company for which the NOC had been issued ie features of the imported vehicles would be intimated to the interior ministry.

It further mentioned that the vehicles were to be disposed of after obtaining an NOC from the interior ministry and the vehicles would be plied in the high-security risk areas only.

The charge-sheet said that the vehicles were accordingly released on the basis of the documents so provided. However, the Customs department simultaneously sent a letter to the interior ministry requesting to confirm the authenticity and genuineness of the NOC filed by the customs clearance agent along with the goods declaration for the release of the two imported vehicles.

The interior ministry, however, expressed its inability to verify the purported NOC, added the charge-sheet in which applicant Naeem Malik was shown as proclaimed offender.

Therefore, the Customs department registered a case under the relevant sections of the Customs Act, 1969 on the complaint of the appraising officer Abdul Aziz.

Transitory remand of housing society chairman

An accountability court on Friday granted four-day transitory remand of the detained chairman of the Overseas Cooperative Housing Society in a case pertaining to alleged illegal land transfers and fake accounts.

The National Accountability Bureau detained Ijaz Haroon, chairman of the Overseas Cooperative Housing Society (OCHS) and a former managing director of PIA on Thursday, over his alleged involvement in illegal allotment and transferring payment to a fake account.

On Friday, the IO produced the suspect before administrative judge Farid Anwar Qazi to seek his transitory remand for his production before a Rawalpindi accountability court, where the matter related to the alleged fake accounts is pending trial.

Allowing the request, the judge granted four-day transitory remand with the direction to produce him before the court concerned.

In a statement, the federal anti-graft watchdog alleged that Mr Haroon, being chairman and secretary of the OCHS, had misused his authority by creating 12 fake plots from the land belonging to the Kidney Hill Park in Karachi, in the name of fictitious owners.

It further accused him of laundering unexplained funds of Omni Group under the garb of selling these plots and receiving illegal gains of about Rs144 million from two fake bank accounts of M/s Lucky International and M/s A-One International.

Former president Asif Ali Zardari, chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, his aunt Faryal Talpur, former chief minister Qaim Ali Shah, provincial minister Anwar Siyal and real estate tycoon Malik Riaz are among as many as 172 accused in the fake accounts case.

Published in Dawn, November 23rd, 2019