LAHORE: The affectees of Eden Housing scam have asked an accountability court to order the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to arrest the suspects and transfer possession of the plots they purchased in the scheme.

A petition filed by the affectees states that the trial court had on Nov 6, 2020 issued perpetual warrants of arrest against the suspects including Dr Muhammad Amjad, his wife Anjum Amjad, sons Mustafa Amjad and Murtaza Amjad, who is also son-in-law of former chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

The petitioners urge the court to direct the NAB to ensure compliance of the order and arrest the suspects. They also ask the court to order the bureau to transfer the possession of the developed plots/properties to them or auction the frozen properties of the suspects to return the amount to them (petitioners) as per the current value of the land.

According to the NAB, the suspects collected Rs18.9 billion from the public through fraud and fled the country.

In September 2018, the Federal Investigation Agency had arrested Murtaza Amjad in Dubai. However, he was set at liberty owing to unavailability of sufficient evidence against him. The properties owned by Eden amounted to Rs22bn. Over 11,000 citizens have been cheated by the owners of the housing scheme.

Published in Dawn, March 14th, 2021