ISLAMABAD, JULY15: According to an inquiry, a private transportation provider called Bilal Travels, which runs the shuttle bus service in the Diplomatic Enclave, is suspected of embezzling Rs. 288 million.
Bilal Travel, the company hired to manage the service, is implicated in the fraud, which is believed to have been committed by officials from the relevant Directorate of Municipal Administration (DMA) through incompetence and complicity.
The owners of Bilal Travel, Haji Nawaz and Amjad, reportedly obtained a contract worth Rs. 96 million annually to run the Diplomatic Enclave Bus Service. This service was started by the CDA to make it easier for citizens to visit embassies inside the Diplomatic Enclave. The agreement, which called for payments to be made in quarterly installments, was never followed. Even though it’s customary to require a yearly advance payment, The agreed-upon sum was not deposited by Bilal Travel into the government coffers.
Rather, the corporation did not fulfill its yearly deposit commitment of Rs. 96 million during the four-year contract period. With the help of DMA officials, Bilal Travel allegedly avoided paying the full amount owed by using delaying tactics and obtaining three-year court injunctions. This is believed to have resulted in the misappropriation of Rs. 288 million from the government treasury.
The owners of Bilal Travel allegedly took the full sum embezzled with them when the court eventually withdrew the restraining order, breaching their contractual duties in the process. As a result, the DMA started recovery efforts, although they were slow and ineffectual.
Surprisingly, the DMA’s attempts to retrieve the embezzled monies entailed tying the proceedings to the Lahore addresses on the two owners’ identity cards, which caused the procedure to drag on. The DMA then attempted to use the Deputy Commissioner Lahore’s involvement in the recovery process as justification for its inaction.
The complaint states that Bilal Travel failed to deposit any of the agreed upon installments, which were due every three months. DMA officials did not terminate the contract or penalize the corporation in spite of this blatant breach.
