ISLAMABAD, Jan 6: The probe by a Senate body into the Rs1.04 billion Employees Old Age Benefit Institution (EOBI) scam on Thursday exposed new linkages of the financial crime as the bureaucrats spilled beans about the previously unknown information under intense questioning by the senators.

The questioning by the senators also revealed that National Accountability Bureau (NAB) struck "faulty plea bargain deals with the main accused" who managed to escape the country as their names were not put on the exit control list (ECL) by the concerned officials.

The Senate Standing Committee on Labour, Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis, which met under the chairmanship of Senator Naeem Hussain Chattha, directed the concerned officials to provide answers to the questions of its members by January 15.

The intense questioning of the officials was led by Senator Enver Baig in the presence of other committee members including senators Raza Khan Raza, Tahir Iqbal and Naseer Mengal.

During the parliamentary accountability probe, the federal minister for labour, Sarwar Khan, and secretary labour were not present as their subordinates including EOBI chairman Shafi Malik, Bureau of Immigration director-general Ibrahim Khan, Workers Welfare Fund secretary and other officials tried to answer the probing questions.

Exposing the faulty deal struck by the NAB with the main accused of the scam, former EOBI chairman Barkatullah Sheikh, the incumbent chairman, Shafi Malik, informed the senators that the properties given in lieu of the plea bargain could not be transferred in the name of EOBI. He said efforts to that effect for the past one-and-a-half years had proved futile.

It was revealed that NAB had been duped by the main accused who pledged disputed properties worth millions of rupees to strike the plea-bargain deal with the bureau and flee the country. During a previous meeting, the committee was told that NAB had recovered Rs903 million of the total 1.04 billion embezzled amount.

When Senator Enver Baig asked more questions about NAB's deal with the main accused and the role of bureaucrats including former labour secretary Farhat Hussain, the incumbent EOBI chairman could not give any satisfactory replies. However, Mr Malik told the senators that NAB could not help get the amount pledged for plea bargain recovered in due course of time.

He said the labour ministry and the EOBI had also written letters to the NAB chairman to ensure the payback of the plundered money into the national exchequer.

Senator Baig asked questions about the deal and the persons who had approved investment of Rs1.04 billion public money into private companies owned by one Tahir Siddiqui and associates.

He asked the officials why NAB did not agree to recover the entire amount of Rs1.04 billion and struck the plea-bargain deal for only Rs903 million leaving a balance deficit of nearly Rs100million to the national kitty.

The PPP senator also questioned EOBI's acceptance of a fake bank guarantee of Bank of Cylone, Karachi, furnished by the accused without checking its authenticity with the concerned bank.

He also questioned how Rs1.04 billion were given to private individuals and companies without any secure bank guarantee. The senator also asked why the interior ministry was not approached to put the names of the accused on the ECL.

The EOBI chairman was also questioned about Rs4 billion of workers money invested in the stock exchange without the finance ministry approval. Although the chairman claimed that he was authorized to make the investment under the changed rules, he could not satisfy the senators if the investment of the pensioners and workers savings was safe.