PM Gilani leaves for two day tour of Tajikistan

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani left for a two day tour of Tajikistan on Wednesday.

The Prime Minister will attend a Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) conference in Dushanbe. All SCO member country heads will attend the conference and Gilani will represent Pakistan.

Before his departure to Tajikistan, Gilani said while talking to media at the airport that Pakistan will try to get a permanent membership of SCO and would discuss the enhancement of economical and security cooperation with China and Russia.

He added that during his visit, Pakistan Steel Mills’ expansion plan will also be discussed with the Prime Minister of Russia. Trend Pk

PSM corruption case: Annoyed CJP declines to suspend probe

A three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, heard the case of the alleged corruption in Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM), trendpk.Com reported on Thursday.

The counsel, Fakhrudding G Ibrahim, pleaded the Supreme Court to halt the hearing of the case because Pakistan Steels is facing rupees one billions loss every month.

He contended that the investigation has dropped the production to 40 percent. He added that even the Scotland Yard has failed to stop such white-collar crime.Rejecting Fakharuddins request for calling off the investigation, the CJ maintained that Rs 26 billion had been embezzled, The SC took notice of the issue because nobody dared to held the influential responsible.

Chief Justice deplored that FIA, instead of nabbing the true criminal held a watchman and a canteen owner for billions of rupees corruption. The CJ ordered DG FIA to submit a comprehensive report in this regard in the court.

The court has been deferred for a month.

SC Dismisses Plea to Stop Steel Mills Graft Probe

ISLAMABAD, News Trends: Supreme Court (SC) dismissed plea filed here in order to plead the court to stall the investigations into Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) corruption worth billions of rupees.

The Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Muhammed Chaudhry expressed disapproval when the PSM’s counsel Fakhrud Din G Ibrahim pleaded the court for order to stop the investigations into PSM corruption.

A three-member bench headed by the CJP Chaudhry heard the case regarding the PSM corruption. Also Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) chief Wasim Akhtar was present during the hearing.

FG Ibrahim submitted that the FIA investigations into the Mills corruption is causing loss to the PSM; accordingly, this process should be stanched.

FIA, PSM meet for safe passage to scam’s accused

ISLAMABAD: A grand strategy has been devised to give safe passage to the highly influential businessman, and a close friend of the president, involved in the multi-billion rupee Pakistan Steel Mill scam, by withdrawing all FIA registered cases against the small PSM traders and the Abbas Group companies.

According to informed sources, FIA had deliberately roped in small and medium sized dealers who had nothing to do with the scam but were still targeted both to mislead the supreme court into believing that the ordered action was being taken while actually the plan appeared to be to get relief for Abbas group companies, allegedly owned by Riaz Lalji, by clubbing their case with the other dealers.

At a meeting on Thursday between different steel industrialists, FIA and Pakistan Steel Mill (PSM) it was decided in principle to tell the Supreme Court at next hearing that PSM has no claim whatsoever against ‘any’ trader and thus wrongly registered cases will be taken back, The News has reliably learnt.

PSM’s acting Chief Executive Officer and its Principal Executive Officer Finance Imtiaz AK Lodhi while talking to The News confirmed that in today’s meeting with FIA chief Zafarullah, he had conveyed to him that PSM has no claims of recovery whatsoever against any dealer and thus FIA should take the wrongly registered cases back.

“We have agreed to convey this to the apex court in next hearing of the case,” Lodhi said adding: “We have offered the FIA to work together to resolve some misunderstandings as to what is meant by the term ‘business loss’ to PSM which the FIA calls a fraud or corruption.”

On the other hand when DG-FIA Zafarullah Khan was approached he said that he was still in meeting with people with regard to Pakistan Steel Mill issue. When asked to confirm the PSM CEO’s statement that both PSM and FIA are going to submit in the Supreme Court a joint statement that there are no claims of recovery against any dealer and so wrongly registered cases will be taken back, he said he couldn’t reply as this correspondent has misquoted him in a previous story.

When asked at what point he was misquoted he said that in Geo TV’s programme ‘Kehnay May Kya Harj Hai’, this scribe had alleged that he (DG) was loudly laughing while giving interview on PSM corruption case. When it was pointed out that he had been laughing, the DG replied that he will simply not speak on today’s developments.

Top steel industrialists in their interactions with The News have alleged that registration of so many cases against almost each and every steel trader and consumer was basically meant to create a situation of large-scale hue and cry and then finally announce that because of this situation, all the cases are being taken back.

The News has reported these interviews alleging Riaz Lalji as the mastermind of this strategy by FIA which, instead of acting upon Supreme Court’s instructions to investigate the real beneficiaries of more than Rs22 billion loss to the PSM, had registered FIR against 40 different steel traders and announced registration of similar FIRs against rest of the traders of the industry.

Following these FIRs, arrest of industrialists and a campaign to harass them was also launched by FIA’s Karachi office and head office at Islamabad.

As the result of the whole well-written scripted drama executed by FIA, hue and cry was started and harassed industrialists started threatening the government to come on roads. Many steel traders were scheduled to meet DG FIA on Friday at the interior ministers’ camp office in Karachi but one day before the highly important decision was taken to step-wise withdraw FIRs apparently to give a complete safe passage to the alleged owner of the Abbas Steel Group, Mr. Riaz Lalji.

When PSM’s acting CEO Lodhi was asked that if the whole fiasco of selling of billets, steel billets and other steel products to some selected traders was simply a business loss then would he say that decision of sacking of Moeen Aftab by the Prime Minister was wrong? To this he replied, “No, there ‘could be’ some elements of corruption or mismanagement. When the prices of the products were too low the then management should have gone to suppliers and got the rates adjusted”. He gave an impression as if billions of rupees loss was merely administrative mistake of the then management.

When asked whether it was simply a coincident that the whole consignments of tens of thousands of tons of billets, steel billets and other steels products were given to Abbas Steel and all other traders were ignored, he at this point admitted, “Yes, there could some mal-practice, but you know it has to be proved. FIA will have to prove it.”

After saying this Lodhi again make a very confusing statement, adding, “But at the same time you know it is our policy statement that all what happened was basically a business loss and we don’t have any claims whatsoever against any trader.”

When Lodhi was asked that whether he was sure that Riaz Lalji was not the owner of these four companies of Abbas Steel Group, which are beneficiaries of this whole scam, Lodhi said that he couldn’t say anything in this regard.

Thousands tones wheat rotten at Daharki rail station

GHOTKI: Thousands of wheat sacks, dumped at a Daharki Railway Station, have gone rotten upon being exposed to open air and rainwater, Geo News reported Monday.

Sindh Food and Agriculture Ministry sources termed the rotting of tonnes of wheat being the alleged negligence and corruption rendered by ministry officials.

This wheat also included those 12000 sacks, which were imported last year due to food crisis, sources said adding that as many as 25000 locally grown wheat sacks, have also turned a huge heap of husk and rotten shit, sources said.

Food ministry sources said massive quantity of dearly wheat costing Rs.90 millions have turned into a complete litter.

Meanwhile, a total of 2,00,000 sacks of wheat, purchased last year by food ministry, have yet to be sold out due to conflicts on commission, however, sacks are safe and sound with floor mills owners, sources said further.

Chairman PSM critic of raise in salaries

KARACHI: The acting Chairman of Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) Imtiaz Lodhi said the decision to increase salaries of employees was wrong due to financial crunch in the organization.

Talking to Geo News, Lodhi said a bailout package of Rs. 25 billion has been approved for Pakistan Steel whereas there was need to negotiate with suppliers to minimize the deficit which could not happened.

He said instead of harassing dealers of Pakistan Steel, FIA should talk to us because there are no outstanding dues of organization. The dealers are purchasing billets at a price fixed by Pakistan Steel. The organization will take up the issue legally if any notice served to it, he added.

Four industrialists nabbed for PSM fraud

KARACHI: At least four industrialists have been nabbed for embezzlements in iron purchase in Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM), Geo News reported Sunday.

But, the PSM’s Re-rolling Mill Associations said they are being victimized to show recovery.

According to sources, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) arrested at least four people involved in the PSM scam.

The chief of Re-rolling Mill Association Ismat Pervaiz said, ‘We are being made the scapegoat to show recovery to the Supreme Court (SC). Re-rolling Mill Association cannot earn unwarranted profits as it is a consumer dealer.’

‘The members of Re-rolling Mill Association never took any illegal benefit; however, to save some people, we are being pressurized,’ he stressed.

Warning to take recourse to the courts if the action against them is not halted, he further said, ‘The PSM never provided us with material as per our requirements.’

Ismat Pervaiz said the PSM chief acknowledged that the RMA workers did nothing wrong, adding he would lay bare the facts in tomorrow’s press briefing.

SC rejects FIA report in Steel Mills case

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has rejected the FIA report in Pakistan Steel Mills corruption case.

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SC rejects FIA report in Steel Mills case

Court charges PSM chief in Canteen corruption case

KARACHI: Federal Anti-Corruption Court charged ten accused including Moeen Aftab, former chairman of Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) in Canteen corruption case, Geo News reported Saturday.

The accused including Moeen Aftab, Brig. (rtd) Abdul Qayyum, Ateeq Ahmed pleaded not guilty.

The court summoned the witnesses on June 24.

Judge Shaukat Memon, considering the interim challan against the accused in five cases as final, decided to take up the petitions regarding Aftab’s bail in the next hearing.

The accused have been charged of harming the PSM a loss worth Rs10 billion in various irregularities.

PM bails out Pakistan Steel Mills

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, in a special meeting held here at the PM House on Friday, approved the bailout package of worth Rs 25 billion for the Pakistan Steel Mills.

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PM bails out Pakistan Steel Mills

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