National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has decided to move to Supreme Court on Friday (today) against the bail granted to Mufti Ehsanullah in Modarba scandal by Islamabad High Court (IHC). The Modarba scandal is worth Rs 8.2 billion with over 10,000 affectees. This was stated by an investigating officer of NAB during the meeting of Senate Standing Committee on Finance here on Thursday, which was presided over by Senator Saleem Mandviwala.
Muhammad Hasnain of Financial Crime Investigation Unit of NAB told the committee that the case of defrauding the public in the name of Islamic financing was not limited to Mufti Ehsanullah of Rawalpindi or few Molvis of Islamabad, but this sinister business has spread to remote areas of the country too.
Sharing details of the scandal, he said that the roots of this illegal business had been traced in the federal capital. He said Rs 8.2 billion defrauding case by Mufti Ehsan was only the tipof the iceberg and it was a fact that there were numerous small-scale scandals and the accused Molvis have goen into hiding.
He said that the fraudulent business was started some four to five years back, and it was not in isolation, rather through a closely-managed network. "Most of the accused Molvis belong to remote areas of South Punjab and have connections in other remote parts of the country, and have the power of loudspeakers in the mosques," Hasnain said. He further stated that the clerics criticised banking system of the country and called it un-Islamic and against the norms of Sharia. "After several sermons in many mosques there was a strong voice demanding an alternate Shariah-compliant financing system, and this provided the platform to the molvis to launch the illegal Modarba business. They have been running this business in every third mosques, but now it has vanished from the federal capital," he added.
However, a new turn has emerged in this illegal Islamic financing business, the NAB official said, adding that many of the clerics have started this practice in the remote areas as the bureau has started receiving complaints from far flung districts of the country. The investigation did not cover the aspect of terror funding in details, as the main focus is to recover the public money. "Some people have been sent behind bars and in case of Mufti Ehsan we will approach Supreme Court because there are other accused too who are on the run," he added.
The Senators were briefed that several cases of illegal Modarba businesses were under investigation and out of 36 accused 16 have been arrested, besides confiscation of properties belonging to these persons. Hasnain added that the NAB has tightened the noose around these people and one of the accused was recently arrested from a mosque in Islamabad.
Meanwhile, the officials of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) clarified that these were unauthentic and illegal 'Modarba' businesses as the Arabic / Islamic term attracts the general public. The SECP official said that the network of clerics used to operate these illegal investment units and promised hefty return of Rs 8,000 per month on Rs 100,000, along with a certificate that all the money is coming from 'Halal' sources as the investment is made in such projects. Chairman of the Senate Committee Senator Salim Mandviwala suggested that there should be some law to penalise the depositors too.