LAHORE – In another reputational blow to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan, the Punjab government has falsified the claims of PTI chief regarding the alleged corruption in the Multan metro bus project and subsequent interrogation by Chinese authorities.
According to a hand out issued by the Punjab Government on Friday, no team of China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) ever visited Pakistan for investigations or taking statements of any individual pertaining to allegations of corruption in Multan Metro bus Project, contrary to the claims made by PTI supremo that a whistleblower named Faisal Subhan faced investigations.
The communique also referred to the investigations launched by Chinese financial regulator (CSRC) which found out that Chines firm ‘Yabaite’ was not associated with any individual or company in Pakistan, however, it used unfair means and shared forged documents to prove its money trail which was questioned in 2015 in China.
During the course of investigations by CSRC, Yabeite claimed that it earned huge sums of money in lieu of constructing Phase-III of the Multan Metro Bus Project through its partner “M/s Capital Engineering and Construction Pvt Ltd.”
To this startling disclosure, the CSRC contacted its Pakistani counterpart- Securities And Exchange Commission Of Pakistan- to confirm whether Yabeite was actually deployed for work in Multan Metro Bus Project or not.
https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/headline/no-evidence-of-capital-flow-between-yabaite-and-pakistani-company-china/
After having received the letter in December 2016, the then Chairman of the SECP, Zafarul Haq Hijazi wrote a letter to the Chief Secretary Punjab on 13th February 2017 to validate Yabaite’s involvement in the said project.
In the meantime, the Chinese regulator questioned Yabaite and this time the firm submitted a fake letter to CSRC substantiating that the Chief Minister of Punjab lavished praise on them for their work in the Multan Metro Bus Project.
CSRC forwarded this letter to SECP for verification which in turn was forwarded to the Chief Secretary Punjab on 15th August 2017.
The Chief Secretary Punjab in their reply, the following day, declared the letter totally fake as it bore a forged serial number and there was no record available of it. Moreover, the format of the letter was not the same as traditionally utilised in the CM office.
The Chief Secretary Punjab also offered support to investigate the matter on priority basis. Furthermore, the SECP forwarded its communication with the Punjab government to CSRC.
https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/headline/behead-me-if-corruption-proven-cm-shehbaz-reacts-to-multan-metro-graft-allegations/
In a flagrant contradiction with the claims of PTI supremo Imran Khan that CSRC visited Pakistan and interrogated an individual named Faisal Subhan, the SECP in August, last year also issued a press release confirming that no team from CSRC came to Pakistan for the investigation of alleged embezzlement in Multan Metro Bus Project.
In the same press release, SECP made absolutely clear that “M/s Capital Engineering and Construction Pvt Ltd,” is not registered in the SECP nor Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC).
Also, SECP visited the office address given by Yabaite to CSRC of the “M/s Capital Engineering and Construction Pvt Ltd,” which also turned out to be fake as no office of the company existed there.
The Punjab government, in its press release, revealed that CSRC concluded their investigation in December 2017 and not only declared Yabaite’s claims as baseless and false but also blacklisted the firm besides imposing heavy penalties as well.
The investigations led to the apology of Yabaite’s President after a confession of forgery, and acceptance of all the allegations mentioned in CSRC investigation.
The firm, Yabaite also made a public apology on this whole case, which they also published on their website.
Lijian Zhao, Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) and Minister Counsellor at Chinese Embassy also made a series of tweets on the decision of CSRC.
https://twitter.com/zlj517/status/944691869203779584
https://twitter.com/zlj517/status/944926284425068544
https://twitter.com/zlj517/status/944934597825056768
The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, the financial regulator of the country, revealed the whole saga before the Senate Panel on February 28th.
In a bid to track the culprits, two fraudsters named Sheikh Aijaz Asghar and Salman Iqbal, who fabricated Chief Minister Punjab’s letter were also apprehended by the Police and an FIR regarding the matter was registered at Liaquatabad Police Station, Lahore.
Let it be known that the cricketer-turned-politician, Imran Khan made Yabaite, the centre of his discussion, quoting its statements to allege the Chief Minister Punjab Shehbaz Sharif of minting money through Multan metro bus project.
https://twitter.com/ImranKhanPTI/status/969216123429445643
Furthermore, Khan also alleged Sharif family of setting up offshore accounts and depositing money received from kickbacks in the said accounts, despite the fact that Yabaite was blacklisted by Chinese officials and it had nothing to do with the Multan metro bus project, as duly verified by SECP and CSRC.
