Following the revelation of corruption worth millions at Lahore Electricity Supply Company (LESCO), FIA Lahore arrested the project director of LESCO Construction Circle and registered a case against its 39 senior officers.
The LESCO officers are accused of having released goods worth more than Rs. 340 million from the store instead of Rs. 190 million for eleven different projects. The officers who have been booked include a project director, 11 XEN, 13 SDOs, 9 line superintendents, and some accounts officers.
An amount of 190 million was sanctioned for the commencement of work on 11 projects. It should be noted that it was stipulated that in case of increase in the cost or completion period of the projects, the prior permission of the competent authority has to be obtained to obtain more material or funds.
According to the FIR, Project Director Construction Circle LESCO asked to start work on the said projects.
The work started, and the equipment was to be installed at the site of these eleven projects, but interestingly, the equipment was installed in only a few places, and the rest of the equipment was disappeared by the above-mentioned officers.
The FIA received information from its sources and started an investigation. When the investigation team visited the projects, the officials could not prove the use of the said equipment during the site visit.
Rather, site inspection revealed all plans to remain incomplete.
While the officers claimed that all the projects had been completed, The FIA investigation found the LESCO officers guilty, after completing the investigation, a case was registered, and the project director was arrested.
According to the FIA, goods worth more than Rs. 110 million were released by misuse of powers.
From the line superintendent to all concerned officers of LESCO involved in the alleged corruption, the FIA investigation spoke.
According to FIA investigators, payments were made to LESCO’s field stores and contractors before the work began. Due to the undue delay in the work, the cost of the project also increased enormously. FIA has arrested Project Director Construction Muhammad Farooq.
Among the XENs whose names were included in the FIR were Faisal Afridi, Ahmed Fawad, Asadullah Butt, Numan Ghani, Muhammad Iqbal, Abdullah Shabbir, Zubair Sarwar, Shahid Naveed Chatta, Shahid Malik, Muhammad Naeem, and Ali Hassan, while the SDOs include Aamir Raza, Tafsir Ahmed, Saad Mehdi, Muhammad Akram, Saqib Manzoor, Basheer Ahmed, Shahid Manwar, Tanveer Ahmed Khan, Kashif Rehan Khosa, Zulfiqar Ali, Rana Wasim, Adil Naseem, and Manzoorul Hasan. The names of the line superintendents are Muhammad Ramzan, Babar Ali, Amir Razzaq, Asif Mehmood, Hamza Anwar, Nasrullah, Kashif Majeed, Aleem Jafar, and Yasin Maskin. Apart from this, Umar Farooq and Aqib Siddiq are accountants.
The names of divisional accountants Mohammad Naeem and Ijaz Mughal are also included in the FIR. All the officers are alleged to have made irregularities in the new and old material.
Also made illegal payments to contractors and the LESCO store before the completion of work. They are also facing charges of creating completion reports on fake forms, in addition to eight types of irregularities.
The FIA arrested the project director, obtained a four-day remand, and was conducting raids for the arrest of the remaining accused.
It should be noted that in the event of an increase in the cost or completion term of the projects, prior approval from the competent authorities must be acquired in order to get additional material or finances.
According to the FIR, Project Director of Construction Circle LESCO requested that work on the aforementioned projects begin.
The work began, and the equipment was to be installed at the sites of these eleven projects; however, the equipment was only installed in a few locations, and the rest of the equipment was taken by the aforementioned officers.
The FIA got information from its sources and launched an inquiry. When the investigating team visited the projects, the officials could not establish the use of the aforementioned equipment.
Rather, site investigation revealed that all designs remained incomplete.
While the officers claimed that all of the projects had been finished, the FIA investigation found the LESCO officers guilty. Following the inquiry, a case was filed, and the project director was detained.
According to the FIA, commodities worth more than Rs. 110 million were discharged through abuse of power.
The FIA inquiry spoke with everyone involved in the alleged corruption, from the line superintendent to all LESCO officers.
FIA investigators discovered that payments were made to LESCO’s field stores and contractors prior to the start of work. The project’s cost skyrocketed as a result of the excessive delay in completion. Muhammad Farooq, Project Director of Construction, has been arrested by the FIA.
Among the XENs whose names were included in the FIR were Faisal Afridi, Ahmed Fawad, Asadullah Butt, Numan Ghani, Muhammad Iqbal, Abdullah Shabbir, Zubair Sarwar, Shahid Naveed Chatta, Shahid Malik, Muhammad Naeem, and Ali Hassan, while the SDOs include Aamir Raza, Tafsir Ahmed, Saad Mehdi, Muhammad Akram, Saqib Manzoor, Basheer Ahmed, Shahid Manwar, Tanveer Ahmed Khan, Kashif Rehan Khosa, Zulfiqar Ali, Rana Wasim, Adil Naseem, and Manzoorul Hasan. The line superintendents’ names are: Muhammad Ramzan, Babar Ali, Amir Razzaq, Asif Mehmood, Hamza Anwar, Nasrullah, Kashif Majeed, Aleem Jafar, and Yasin Maskin. Apart from that, Umar Farooq and Aqib Siddiq are accountants.
The names of divisional accountants Mohammad Naeem and Ijaz Mughal are also listed in the FIR. All of the officials are accused of making abnormalities in both new and old materials.
Also made illicit payments to contractors and the LESCO store before the job was completed. They are also accused of producing completion reports on false forms, as well as eight other types of irregularities.
The FIA arrested the project director, received a four-day remand, and was undertaking raids to apprehend the remaining defendants.
