LAHORE: The Anti-Corruption Establishment (AEC) on Thursday arrested an alleged frontman of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) vice-chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s son former MNA Zain Qureshi on the charges of corruption in the sale of government flour.

According to the ACE, Mazhar Abbas, Zain Qureshi’s frontman, was appointed by former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi as the Chairman Task Force on Food and he allegedly committed corruption worth Rs2 billion in a period of three years.

It said Mazhar Abbas was selling a bag of flour worth Rs645 from flour mills for Rs1,100 in the market. Suspect Abbas used to buy and sell 2,000 to 5,000 bags of flour illegally every day. Similarly, the former MNA’s frontman committed corruption of Rs1 million to Rs2.5 million daily for three years.

The ACE has seized all the records of the food department of the Multan region and started the investigation. ACE secured his two-day physical remand.

Meanwhile, the ACE summoned PTI’s former MNA Javed Iqbal Waraich on Friday (today) for causing a loss of millions of rupees to the government by illegally approving different housing schemes.

Waraich was also summoned by Anti-Corruption Punjab on March 27 but he did not appear.

It also called former MPA Aamir Nawaz Chandiya of PTI on Friday to probe him on allegations that he through his frontman occupied government land and built a farmhouse. The suspect also allegedly grabbed the ‘benami’ land.

Published in Dawn, March 31st, 2023