Former Paco chief and managing director indicted in corruption reference

An Accountability Court in Karachi on Tuesday indicted former federal secretary and ex-chief of Pakistan Automobile Corporation (Paco) Javed Burki and co-accused Muzamil Niazi former Managing Director of Paco in corruption reference.
Both accused, who are on bail, appeared before the Accountability Court headed by Judge Parkash Lal Ambwani denied the prosecution charges levelled against them and pleaded not guilty.
Burki and Niazi are accused by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) of causing a loss of about Rs 1.78 billion to the public exchequer by misusing their authority during the period from 1991 to 1996.
The former was chairman of the Pakistan Automobile Corporation (Paco) when it was given a contract for manufacturing "Yasoob" trucks for the Pakistan Army. Niazi was managing director of the Paco subsidiary, Trailer Development Company (TDL). A hefty amount was advanced to the Paco and TDL as part of the contract.
According to NAB reference, accused allegedly floated a private company, Trans Mobile Limited (TML), and transferred the contract to it.
The company, which is alleged to have obtained huge amounts in bank credit, failed to discharge the contractual obligations between the Paco and the army.
Meanwhile, defence counsel Abdul Hafeez Lakho opposed the indictment against the accused and raised objection on indictment sheet. He said charges are not specified and termed the it 'defective'.
The court after indictment and hearing preliminary objections of defence counsel fixed August 18, 2004 for next hearing.
Special Public Prosecutor Shaukat Hayat and Khalid Mehmood Siddiqui advocate appeared for NAB while Ms Ismat Mehdi advocate is representing the co-accused Muzamil Niazi.