Islamabad, Aug 26: Unusualities in the auction of commercial properties in Islamabad worth billions of rupees have surfaced, which is a startling development, according to ARY News.
The audit study reveals that the bidding procedure lacked transparency, costing the national exchequer Rs. 37 billion 82 crore. Twenty-nine commercial plots were put up for auction by the Capital Development Authority (CDA), of which twenty-three were sold for a total of Rs. 37 billion 82 crore. However, the lack of bids caused the auction of five plots to be postponed, and the legal complications caused the auction of one plot to be halted.
The audit report revealed the absence of backup records of plot prices and auction proceedings, no market trend analysis for land prices, and no record of the five postponed plots.
Furthermore, bidders’ pay orders were not deposited in banks, and there was no bank verification of the pay orders, which increased the risk of fraudulent pay orders. The CDA’s lax financial procedures resulted in irregularities worth billions of rupees.
The audit authorities have demanded that individuals in charge be held accountable and that an inquiry be conducted. The claims have not received a response from the CDA. The Anti-Corruption Circle had already finished looking into 14 government workers and found assets much over their disclosed salary.
The investigation led to the seizure of assets held in the names of these government officers and their families.
The cases were sent to the Anti-Money Laundering Cell, which filed charges against the accused officers in accordance with the Anti-Money Laundering Act.
ETO Hilal Ahmed, former Member State CDA Afnan Alam, Ahmar Ali Qureshi, Parvez Akhtar, Firast Ali, and Safdar Mahmood are among the accused. Furthermore, Mohammad Iftikhar and Kaleem Akhtar are being prosecuted for anti-corruption. Development plans were allegedly violated, numbers were assigned to non-custom vehicles, and the accused were involved in the sale of government land.
