Undergoing medical check-ups; can’t appear before CIT: Jahangir Tareen

LAHORE: The PTI leader Jahangir Khan Tareen has requested the Federal Investigation Agency to grant him more time to respond to FIA investigations against him and his son Ali Khan Tareen, The News has learned.

The FIA is holding an investigation against Jahangir Khan Tareen and his son for alleged money laundering and a sugar scam. The Combined Investigation Team of the FIA had summoned Tareen on Saturday but instead of appearing before the CIT, Tareen, through a letter, requested the CIT to give him more time.

The letter of Tareen, a copy of which is available with The News stated that the sugar CIT call-up notice dated September 15 was received in the afternoon of the same date at the Head Office of JDW Sugar Mills Limited in Lahore in which he (Tareen) was asked to appear before the CIT on September 19. Tareen said he is currently in England, undergoing medical check-ups, tests and consultations with doctors for an ongoing medical condition. “I am therefore incapable to appear before the CIT,” Tareen said. In view of the short notice and the fact that the queries pertained to documentary evidence, he requested the CIT to give him reasonable time and opportunity to consult the relevant record. “This will enable me to adequately assist the CIT and respond to its queries at an alternate future date,” he concluded.

Earlier, Ali Tareen had also skipped his appearance before the CIT in the same investigation as he is also in England with his father. They both had left the country after the Sugar Commission report surfaced. The FIA sources told The News, Tareen will be summoned again. However, the date has not been decided yet.

In the call-up notice to Tareen, the FIA had asked him to explain the due diligence measures (as per statutory financial prudence standards that he took or failed to undertake) in the purchase of his private assets by a listed public limited company (JWD) which was under his fiduciary control at an inflated value of Rs 4.35 billion.

Both the father and son were asked to explain the due diligence measures (as per statutory financial prudence standards) they took (or failed to undertake) while making huge investments amounting to Rs 3.15 billion in a private but related company (Faruki Pulps Mills Limited) by a listed public company (JDW) which was under Tareen's fiduciary control. Tareen was also asked to explain the huge cash withdrawal amounting to Rs 2.2 billion from the accounts of the public listed company under his fiduciary control through his trusted cash boys and its personal utilisation without true documentation in the account books.

The other questions asked from Tareen included details of transactions made by Tareen-owned JDW Sugar Mills as well as the loans issued to it by the Bank of Punjab and the Faisal Bank. Previously, the FIA had sought information from the administrations of Multan, Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad, and Rahim Yar Khan regarding details of properties and bank accounts owned by the PTI leader, his son Ali Tareen and others associated with the firm. The Lahore Development Authority and the Capital Development Authority were also asked to submit relevant details. In April, an FIA report claimed that Jahangir Tareen benefited from the sugar crisis after which investigations against him were initiated.