An accountability court on Thursday approved a plea bargain of Rs637 million between the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and accused Yasir Hayat Tarar in a cooperative housing scheme fraud case.
Tarar was the owner of M/s Asian Developers to the extent of 80 per cent shares at the time when the fraud was committed.
The accused is the younger brother of incumbent Senior Member Board of Revenue (SMBR) Babar Hayat Tarar.
Read more: No accountability in the Bureau ; The enigmatic case of NAB’s recovered money
According to official documents, Yasir Hayat Tarar, and his front men committed a multi-million fraud in a housing society project in Lahore based on an order passed by his brother, Babar Hayat Tarar, who was serving as Secretary Cooperatives Department Punjab in 2014.
Babar Hayat is also the brother-in-law of PML-N leader and former federal health minister Saira Afzal Tarar. The then Lahore deputy registrar Muhammad Ashfaq Shahid had raised serious questions about the decision of the then Secretory Cooperatives (Babar Hayat) in deciding an appeal within seven days, favouring his brother.
The accused confessed to the crime and agreed to return the money looted from the public at large. The accused agreed to pay the money in three installments of equal amount while a land worth of Rs322 million had been handed over to the affectees of the scam as a first installment.
The NAB alleged that the accused through his front men and benamidars entered into an agreement with the administration of Professional Cooperative Housing Society as land provider and developer.
The selection of M/s Asian Developer was non-transparent and illegal as the accused Tarar was the friend of Muhammad Asghar, former general secretary of the said society.
The accused Yasir Tarar through his front men illegally received advanced payments from this contract as not a single penny had been utilized by him from his own pocket for the purchase of land rather used the advance payments received from the society for the purchase of land for the society. All the land was purchased by the accused and others by using the money of the affectees/members deposited by them with the society.
The major transactions in the account of the firm were in cash. The accused along with others legally received money from society.
Read more: Opposition rejects new amendment to NAB ordinance
As per NAB Investigation, It is also intimated by Admin Manager PCHS that no record about evaluation criteria (technical or financial) and evaluation sheets of the said bidding process is available in record and was never handed over to him in any capacity. This fact spells out that the M/s Asian developer was selected by the society as being blue-eyed as the accused persons of M/s Asian developers were friends of Muhammad Asghar Ex-General Secretary of the Society.
No record was ever brought on record by the accused persons for justifying the competitive selection of the said developer except merely an advertisement.
Accused Yasir Hayat Tarar through his front men illegally received advance payments from this contract as not a single penny has been utilised by him from his own pocket for the purchase of land rather used the advance payments received from the society for purchase of land for the society. All the land was purchased by the accused and others by using the money of affectees/members deposited by them with the society. The record shows that he provided land measuring 459K-5M land approximately as per 56 registered sale deeds out of which 100K-19M land falls in the green area and only 358K-5M land is available. Furthermore, 100K-19M land falling in green areas was sold by him and others to private persons on less rate as compared to rates at which land was provided by him to society which shows the mala fide intentions of the accused for commission of offence.
