LAHORE: An accountability court on Monday adjourned the hearing till October 16 after reserving judgment on the acquittal pleas of Khwaja brothers in the Paragon Housing Society Scam.Both the brothers were presented before the court amid tight security arrangements. Heavy contingents of police were deployed on the occasion to maintain law and order. Few skirmishes were reported between Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) workers and the police.Before the court, the defence counsel contended that the Paragon City reference falls under the jurisdiction of the Companies Act 2017. However, the NAB prosecutor argued that they filed the case after following the spirit of law. Court after hearing arguments of both parties adjourned the proceedings till October 16. Former federal minister Khwaja Saad Rafique said he had contracted typhoid in the jail and was on medication. An accountability court had indicted former federal minister Khwaja Saad Rafique and former provincial minister Khwaja Salman Rafique in the Paragon Housing Society scandal on September 04. Khwaja brothers were arrested by the NAB outside the Lahore High Court (LHC) after their bail petition was rejected by the court in December last. In May 2019, the referenced filed by the NAB alleged that the accused – also including Umar Zia, Nadeem Zia and Farhan Ali – committed a fraud, causing Rs 590 million loss to the general public. It said the Paragon City (Pvt) Limited had been declared illegal by the Lahore Development Authority (LDA). The department had clearly directed that the project was unapproved. In a letter to the collector, Revenue Department, it had also asked the authorities concerned to disconnect its utility services.Initially, the society was as a company, Debonair (Pvt) Ltd, which was registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) in 1997. Later on, the accused got an NOC for a housing scheme – Air Avenue Housing Scheme – in favour of Debonair (Pvt) Ltd. However, the scheme was not launched and the land pertaining to housing scheme was sold to M/s Urban Developers and Eden Developers in the year 2000. Afterwards, Saad Rafique, through his wife, got another firm – Debonair (AOP) – registered with the Registrars of Firms Lahore Division. The sale/consideration of land of Air Avenue was received in three bank accounts of Debonair (Pvt) Ltd which were being operated by Qaiser Amin Butt, Salman Rafique, Shamma Nadeem and Nadeem Zia. The reference said the accused Nadeem Zia and Qaiser Amin Butt were associates of Khwaja Saad Rafique and Khwaja Salman Rafique. The brothers abetted by other accused established another company – Air Avenue (Pvt) Ltd – through Qaiser Amin Butt and Nadeem Zia while excluding their names from documents and the company was registered with the SECP in 2003. Two months later, the name of the said company was changed to M/s Paragon City. The accused got approval for M/s Paragon City on the basis of forged documents from TMA Aziz Bhatti Town in 2005. The accused did not own the requisite land at the relevant time and had ownership of land measuring 1,085 Kanals only in Mauza Phularwan. Paragon City did not obtain approval from LDA. The reference also disclosed that Qaiser Amin Butt voluntarily disclosed the facts and circumstances relating to the commission of offences and requested for grant of pardon that was tendered by the NAB. Khwaja brothers wrongfully gained an amount of Rs 6.2 million and Rs 12 million from Paragon City in their respective bank accounts. They failed to account for the illegal gains received by them during investigations.Saad Rafique established a proprietorship concern namely M/s Saadain Associates to disguise the origin of his illegitimate pecuniary benefits. He wrongfully gained an amount of Rs 58 million from Executive Builders in last few years under the garb of services of consultancy rendered by Saadain Associates. Khwaja Salman established KSR Associates to disguise his origin of pecuniary benefits. He received an amount of Rs 39 million from Executive Builders under the garb of services of consultancy rendered by KSR Associates. Executive Builders is purportedly owned by accused Umar Zia (brother of accused Nadeem Zia) and Farhan Ali (brother-in-law of Salman Rafique), the reference added. An accused in the case, Qaiser Amin Butt, had become approver and testified the allegations.
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