ISLAMABAD: After Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) registered cases against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Jahangir Tareen and his son Ali Tareen on charges of corporate fraud and money laundering, the former said on Wednesday that the charge sheet was “totally fabricated”.
“I have already submitted a detailed reply along with concrete evidence in response to FIA notice. Unfortunate to see them go on another smear campaign against me & my family without establishing anything illegal,” Tareen tweeted.
FIA’s latest claims against me and my family are totally fabricated. I have already submitted a detailed reply along with concrete evidence in response to FIA notice. Unfortunate to see them go on another smear campaign against me & my family without establishing anything illegal
— Jahangir Khan Tareen (@JahangirKTareen) March 31, 2021
The tweet comes shortly after the filing of the two first information reports (FIRs) was revealed. The cases were registered under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating of public shareholders), and 109 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) — with sections 3 and 4 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010 — on March 22.
One of the cases claims Tareen transferred Rs3.14 billion from the accounts of his JDW-Group to Faruki Pulp Mills Limited (FPML), a company said to be owned by his son and a relative. The money was then transferred to the accounts of his family members.
“The transfers, especially after FY [fiscal year] 2011-2012, were patently fraudulent investments which ultimately translated into personal gains for the family member of the JDW CEO [Tareen],” it said.
Likewise, the second complaint says “voluminous withdrawals amounting to at least Rs2.2 billion were fraudulently and dishonestly made through a trusted cash rider”.
Amir Waris, employed as a cashier at the company’s corporate head office in Lahore, deposited large amounts into the personal and business accounts of Tareen and his family members.
Reports citing sources claim that Tareen and his family converted undisclosed sums in rupees into dollars from the open market and got them transferred to their foreign bank accounts.
FIA also booked Tareen’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) Rana Nasim Ahmed on allegations of sugarcane purchase through these funds.
“This modus operandi of cash-based misappropriation and money laundering was employed to break the onwards money trail of deposits into personal and business accounts of the accused Tareen and family,” the second FIR read.
Tareen had returned to Pakistan in November after ending his seven-month-long self-imposed exile after falling out with Prime Minister Imran Khan following an inquiry into the last year’s sugar scandal that accused several sugar producers — including him — of “underreported sales and fraud”.
At the time, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Accountability Mirza Shahzad Akbar had declared sugar-producing units under Tareen’s JDW-Group were found guilty of “double billing” and “over-invoicing” as well as “corporate fraud”.
Tareen had rejected the findings of the Sugar Inquiry Commission. “I am shocked at the kind of false allegations levelled against me. I have always run a clean business. All Pakistan knows I always pay full price to my growers,” he had said in a tweet.
“I DO NOT maintain 2 sets of Books. I pay all my taxes diligently. I will answer every allegation and be vindicated IA.”
