Hascol founder remanded to judicial custody in Rs54bn scam

Judicial Magistrate Karachi south on Tuesday remanded the founder of Hascol Petroleum Limited (HPL), Mumtaz Hasan, to judicial custody in a case pertaining to an alleged scam of 54 billion rupees.

The FIA has arrested Hasan and booked him along with some 30 suspects, including present and former top officials of the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), HPL and other institutions for their alleged involvement in fraud.

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The investigating officer produced the detained chief of the private petroleum company before Judicial Magistrate (south) to seek his physical remand for interrogation and investigation in the custody of the FIA.

However, the magistrate remanded the suspect to judicial custody, directing the IO to produce him on February 5, 2022, with the progress report of the investigation.

The IO submitted that an inquiry had revealed that the HPL founder and others were involved in the country’s biggest financial fraud committed by the HPL officers in connivance with the NBP’s top management and other commercial banks.

It was further mentioned that during the period 2015 to 2020, the HPL was granted various financial facilities by the NBP in alleged violation of prudent banking laws and practices, which was amounted to criminal breach of trust causing wrongful loss to the NBP/national exchequer and wrongful gain to the HPL.

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The FIA claimed that the total amount of alleged default stood at 54 billion rupees of which 18 billion rupees pertained to the NBP alone.

It stated that Hascol’s credit line was increased by various NBP presidents and credit group officials from two billion rupees to 18 billion rupees against unreliable securities.