SECP chairman presents Chaudhry Sugar Mills report before JIT

By
Azaz Syed
|

ISLAMABAD: Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) Chairman Zafar Hijazi appeared on Friday before the Panama case Joint Investigation Team to submit its reports on Chaudhry Sugar Mills owned by the Sharif family.

The SECP chairman along with four officers of the SECP presented the report against the sugar mills records before JIT, said sources.

Officials of the regulatory authority appeared before the investigation team after they were summoned by the Supreme Court.

The records pertaining to Chaudhry Sugar Mills were a disputed matter as the JIT had alleged the commission tampered the records by stating the commission actually dropped the probe in 2013, but signatures showed it was closed in 2016.

Sources said the matter of ceasing the probe was not recorded on paper by the commission. 

Besides issuing the summons, the apex court also sent a notice, after which the Federal Investigation Agency constituted an enquiry and fact-finding committee.

The probe against Chaudhry Sugar Mills was initiated in 2011, following pressure from the then government of Pakistan Peoples Party. 

An article published in The News revealed that the Panama Case JIT’s allegation regarding record tampering and backdated noting and signing of SECP’s 2013 documents of Chaudhry Sugar Mills probe in 2016 had been proven correct.