Who
is Protecting the Former ZTBL President?
FP Special Report
Islamabad:
This newspaper has been reporting the illegal retrenchment and misdeeds of
the former President of ZTBL Mr. R.A Chughtai. The national assembly standing
committee on finance which has met a number of times during the past few months
met once again on Saturday. The issue of the retrenched employees was debated,
more than 700 people were fired by R.A Chughtai and a few other individuals
of the bank.
The corrupt ways of Chughtai have been known to all the powers in Islamabad
since his Deputy Governship days of the state bank. Chughtai was actively
involved in buying foreign exchange for the central bank and earning millions
with well known brokers of Karachi Stock Exchange and some other well known
personalities from the financial world, his close relations with a certain
group in the media was also no hidden factor. He was the blue-eyed man of
Dr. Yaqub, the infamous state bank governor who worked only on instructions
from the henchmen of different political governments and the powerful bureaucracy.
Chughtai, the standing committee felt should separately face an inquiry to
probe the allegations of embezzlement in the Zarai Taraqiati bank and the
wealth that he had amassed during his tenure as the ZTBL President. Sardar
Tufail a committee member told the other's that the former president wanted
to teach those employees a lesson who had been raising their voices against
the wrongs being committed in the bank.
The Financial Post has learned from reliable sources that R.A.Chughtai was
known for his strong personal likes and dislikes and his vengeful ways of
conducting affairs as deputy governor of SBP. He was instrumental in the closure
and immediate liquidation of Bankers Equity Ltd. (Even after eight years the
bank today has not been wound up as it continues to pay heavy salaries to
a group of hand-picked employees of BEL retained by Chughtai to indulge in
harassment and victimization of the former chairman of BEL and his family
members). Mr. Chughtai is also the man responsible for clamping down on Indus
Bank and his personal vendetta against Indus bank's chairman was well known.
The N.A committee was told that the new president of ZTBL Mr. Mansoor Khan
has reinstalled the sacked employees. The chairman of the committee Mr. Anwar
Ali Cheema was requested to initiate probe immediately against R.A Chughtai
who without remaining jobless for even a day was promptly made chairman of
SME bank. The bank which is to be put up for privatization was improved and
diligently run by Mr. Mansoor Khan, it's former chairman.
The question, which arises, is has R.A.Chughtai been assigned to this high
profile job to amass more wealth and weaken its portfolio before privatization
and who in Islamabad is still supporting him? Whose blue-eyed man is he and
why has the finance ministry headed by the Prime Minister not stepped in to
remove and investigate the accusation's against R.A Chughtai. Some former
employees of ZTBL talking to this scribe were shocked as to why the government
was protecting people who are running institutions as their personal belongings.