High-profile land scam JIT uncovers fraud, Navy rep dissents

• JIT uncovers illegal transfer of 136 kanals of land in Islamabad.
• Pakistan Navy's representative defends validity of transaction.
• Cancelling mutation to cause financial loss to PNBA: commander.

ISLAMABAD: A Joint Investigation Team (JIT) has uncovered fraud in the illegal transfer of 136 kanals of prime land in Islamabad, allegedly involving a land mafia that duped both the actual owner and the Pakistan Navy Benevolent Association (PNBA) out of hundreds of millions of rupees.

The inquiry, initiated on the orders of the Prime Minister's Office, has found that the land’s caretaker and a co-conspirator, in collusion with a private land provider, manipulated a Power of Attorney (POA) to illegally sell the property.

However, in a dramatic turn, the Pakistan Navy's representative on the committee has filed a dissenting note, calling the complainant's story "impossible" and defending the validity of the transaction.

The case revolves around a piece of land, known as "Cyan Farms", owned by an ex-CSS topper, Musharraf Rasool Cyan.

According to his complaint, while he was abroad on a UN assignment, his farm employees — Muhammad Waqas and Muhammad Aleem Sohail — orchestrated a scheme to sell his land.

The JIT's majority report concludes that Waqas and Sohail, acting at the behest of a private land dealer, Faisal Mumtaz, tricked Cyan into signing a General Power of Attorney in July 2023.

The committee found that Cyan was shown one document power of attorney for management purposes and appearance in court, but the copy registered with the authorities contained an additional, fraudulently inserted clause authorising the sale of the property.

This extra language was added at the end of a clause about court process. The document does not mention the authority to sell property in accordance with the standard drafts of such powers of attorney.

The Federal Science Laboratory (FSL) of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) confirmed that the thumb impressions and signatures on the registered power of attorney were genuine.

However, the JIT concluded that this was a case of "document manipulation" at the time of signing, where the owner was made to sign one document while a different one with additional language was registered.

The FSL also found that the affidavit attached with the fraudulent power of attorney allowing sale of land was also fraudulent and did not have the owner's thumb impressions or actual signatures, further building up the mala fide of the transaction.

The most damning evidence came from the trail of money. Bank account analysis revealed that Muhammad Waqas, an ordinary farm worker, received a staggering Rs383.8 million from PNBA and Faisal Mumtaz.

Waqas received Rs223.8 million in his bank account and withdrew Rs113 million in cash from Faisal Mumtaz’ account. He admitted to receiving an additional Rs47 million in cash from Mumtaz. The land provider and PNBA paid the amounts to Muhammad Waqas, the buffalo keeper of the farm and no money was paid to the owner.

The committee observed that dealings between Faisal Mumtaz, PNBA land provider, and Muhammad Waqas were underway before the registration of the power of attorney. It also uncovered that a cousin of Faisal Mumtaz was a local witness on the power of attorney while another cousin was the Registry Muharrir.

The Committee found the replies of Faisal Mumtaz illogical where for a transaction worth Rs383 million he relied merely on the apprehension and assumption that his land provider agreement with PNBA will be finalised and he will sell land to them.

The committee further finds the transactions dubious considering that Faisal Mumtaz despite being a local resident of the area where the land is situated failed to approach the actual owner while the dealings and payments went on for more than two years.

A significant portion of these funds was then funnelled out. Waqas withdrew nearly Rs167 million in cash himself, while over Rs50 million was transferred to others, including Aleem Sohail. Sohail's wife, Sana Sohail, was found to have recently deposited Rs34.64 million in a newly opened bank account, for which she provided a fake salary slip.

The JIT has identified and listed assets worth over Rs180 million purchased with the illicit money, including six vehicles, gold jewellery, and immovable property, which have been recovered or confiscated by police.

Further that it was astonishing that millions of rupees for land were paid to a person who was not the actual owner but those making payments failed to approach the rightful owner prior to making such payments.

Based on its findings, the majority of the JIT led by Deputy Commissioner Islamabad and comprising representatives of ISI, IB, Police, NAB, and FIA, recommended immediate cancellation of the fraudulent land mutation, cancellation of the Power of Attorney by the actual owner, freezing of assets and bank accounts of Waqas, Sohail, and their families, registration of an FIR against all involved culprits, systemic reforms to prevent such fraud in the future, including mandatory biometric verification for all land transactions and saying that PNBA may exercise due care and adopt proper due diligence in purchasing any land in future.

The committee has recommended that accounts and properties of the culprits and their family members may be attached and frozen to facilitate recovery of misappropriated amounts.

In a five-page note of dissent, the representative of the Pakistan Navy, rejected the JIT's core findings.

He argued that the registered power of attorney was legally sound, bearing Cyan’s genuine signatures and biometric verification. He termed Cyan’s claim of being tricked "impossible", pointing out that Cyan is a former senior bureaucrat familiar with revenue matters.

The commander also stated that the payment of the sale consideration to the attorney (Waqas) was legal, and the purchaser (PNBA) had no obligation to ensure the money reached the actual owner.

He concluded that no fraud was established in the registration of the power of attorney or the mutation, and recommended that Cyan's complaint be rejected as baseless. He warned that cancelling the mutation would cause a "huge financial loss" to PNBA, an institution established for the welfare of the Pakistan Navy personnel and martyrs' families.

Originally published in The News