LAHORE — The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Thursday issued a notice to the sugar mill of Makhdoom Shehryar, the brother of the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Khusro Bakhtiar, for allegedly selling sugar through the practice of Satta (price-fixing through collusion).
When inquired whether Mr. Bakhtiar or any of his family members had been called on or sent questionnaires in this regard, the official said: “At the current stage, an inquiry has been sent to the sugar mills supposedly involved in sugar pricing manipulation and their top executives have been summoned.”
The inquiry notices to the heads of records and sales of these two mills say ‘the inquiry teams of FIA have obtained a plethora of miscellaneous evidence which exposes the management of sugar mills in active connivance with brokers/frontmen has transformed into a sugar “Satta-gang” which is spiking sugar prices deceitfully and fraudulently through a hidden network deceiving and swindling the consumers. Proof reveals that your sugar mills are granted no exemption and are connected closely with the satta mafia.’
The mill’s directors have been asked to show an actual record of sugar stocks, total production volume, total sugar traded in 2020-21, details of all commission agents, the procedure for forwarding booking, list of bank accounts, incoming and outgoing remittances, etc.
FIA uncovers evidence against sugar mafia
The Federal Investigation Agency has uncovered documentary evidence that explains how brokers and speculators fix sugar prices months in advance. The agency recovered 500 books and files of forwarding contracts for sugar during multiple raids in Lahore.
Recently, The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has registered a case against Jahangir Khan Tareen, an estranged leader of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), and his son Ali Tareen over alleged involvement in financial misappropriation.
The case was registered by the FIA Lahore on March 22 under sections 406, 420, and 109 of the Pakistan Penal Code with Section 3/4 of Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010, accusing both father-son duos of fraud involving Rs3.14 billion, local media reported.
According to the FIR, Jahangir Tareen illegally transferred shares worth billions of rupees to Farooqi Pulp Mills Limited (FPML) owned by his son and other relatives. Saying the fraudulent investment was made for personal gains, the FIR said that the same firm was used for money laundering of around Rs3 billion.
The FIR also explains when and how FPML was made back in 1991. The business tycoon however has rejected the allegations as baseless, adding that the accounts of his companies had also been validated by the private audit firm.
