Staff Reporter
The Sindh High Court has ordered the accounts of the Fazaia Housing Scheme to be frozen. During a hearing on Thursday, the court said all the bank accounts mentioned in the petition will be frozen. No money can be transferred out of the accounts, it said. The court adjourned the hearing till March 19 and summoned replies from the federal government and other respondents. NAB initiated an inquiry into fraud in the housing scheme in 2019. There are allegations of fraud of Rs13 billion in the housing scheme. At least 6,000 people booked plots in the scheme and construction work was stopped in 2018 but the management kept receiving instalments for the plots. Last month, an accountability court was informed on Wednesday that the Fazaia Housing Scheme was launched in the name of martyrs’ families and war heroes but only 30 units were allotted to the families of shuhada. Investigating officer Aslam Pervez Abro submitted a progress report in court with regard to the Rs13 billion Fazaia Housing Scheme case. Two builders, Tanveer Ahmed and Bilal Tanveer, have been arrested and are currently in NAB custody for allegedly depriving the public of Rs13bn through investments in the scheme. Both the suspects were produced before the administrative judge of the accountability courts, Judge Farid Anwar Qazi, and the IO sought extension in their physical custody for further interrogation and investigation. The IO’s progress report stated that during the course of interrogation further evidence had come on record that both the suspects were involved in cheating public at large in connivance with officers/officials of the PAF. Last December, acting upon the complaints of the affectees of Fazaia Housing Scheme scam, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) team raided the marketing office of the scheme and arrested Maxim Group’s Ch Tanveer along with his son Bilal. The team which raided the marketing office of Fazaia Housing Scheme, also seized important record related to the scam. “Investigations have been initiated over the complaints of the affectees, which are more than 6,000 in numbers,” said NAB officials, adding that Rs13 billion was invested in the scheme.The officials said that NAB Karachi has been tasked by the bureau chairman to complete the inquiry into the matter with immediate effect.