LAHORE: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has booked six directors of the Brothers sugar mills on the charges of fraud.

According to the FIR, the bank defaulter Brothers sugar mills had allegedly stolen 120,000 bags each containing 50kg sugar from the stock of the bank which it pledged as guarantee to secure loan. The mills had secured a loan amounting to Rs200 million from the bank against the pledge during 2011 and 2014. It alleged that the directors of the mills also illegally transferred their shares to Nishat Ahmad.

The FIA has booked six directors of the mills -- Mian Aslam, Mian Furqan, Mian Omar, Fatima Furqan, Mehar Omar and Maimoona Idrees under sections 2g (iii), 20(8) FIO 2001.

Meanwhile, the Anti Corruption Establishment (ACE) has arrested four officials on graft charges. Narowal head clerk Imanat Ali, Sialkot Civil Hospital ward boys Mir Hamza and Muhammad Riaz and reader of Tehsildar DG Khan Muhammad Tasneem were arrested for taking bribes.

Six brokers booked for hoarding in Jhang

On the other hand, the Jhang district administration has registered a case against six brokers for hoarding (already sold) around 24,408 metric tonnes of sugar at Hunza-II sugar mills, 18-Hazari.

The district administration raided at Hunza-II mills and found a stock of already sold sugar and the record showed that broker Adeel had hoarded 16,964 metric tonnes sugar, Nestle Pakistan Ltd. had hoarded 2,180mt sugar, Asian Food Industries Limited 2,124mt, Ghalib Enterprises 1,680mt, MA Traders 960mt and Pakola Products Ltd. 500mt sugar.

The case has been registered against the firms under Section 3 of the Prevention of Hoarding Act 1977 (Amendment 2020).

It may be mentioned that the Punjab cane commissioner had on July 31 ordered the sugar mills owners not to allow keeping of sugar in their warehouses beyond three days, while the buyers, who bought the sweetener more than 15 days ago, were directed to lift the commodity from the warehouse of the mills within three days.

Of 42 mills in the province, the Punjab government had verified stocks and found that there were 202,056 metric tonnes sugar, which was sold but remained un-lifted, was still lying in nine sugar mills in Faisalabad, Jhang, Chiniot, Toba Tek Singh, Mandi Bahauddin, Sargodha and Bhakkar districts.

Published in Dawn, August 13th, 2023