Another corruption scam hits Zardari

Another major corruption scam has hit the embattled Pakistani president Asif Zardari — this time for purchasing 2,460 Kanals (307 acres) of prime land in Islamabad, worth over Rs 2 billion, for a mere throw away price of Rs 62 million.

The land was purchased in March 2009 by a private company — Park Lane Estates (Pvt) Ltd — owned by Zardari and his son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, according to Pakistani media reports. If the Park Lane land is assessed on the basis of the rate fixed by the Capital Development Authority (CDA), its market value would be around Rs 2 billion for the entire lot of 307 acres.

A big chunk of land, adjacent to the president’s land, is being acquired by the CDA at this rate although Zardari and his company got it for only Rs 25,000 per Kanal, a magic deal by all standards.

According to the Form-A Annual Return of Park Lane Estates (Pvt) Ltd shows it has 120,000 shares of which Asif Zardari and Bilawal Zardari own 30,000 shares each.
President Zardari is shown as a Director and his son, who is also the chairperson of the PPP, as a member with four others who appear as members and debenture holders.

Another man closely associated with Zardari, Iqbal Memon of Federal B Area Karachi, is not only the Chief Executive of the company but also reflected as its director, who owns 30,000 shares.

Three other persons with the same address as that of Iqbal Memon own the remaining 30,000 shares. Memon was himself a much wanted man on corruption charges after the dismissal of the second Benazir government.

Besides Zardari and Muhammad Iqbal Memon, the other directors are Rahmatullah Habib, Muhammad Younus and Altaf Hussain.  All these directors and Bilawal Zardari own the total 1,20,000 shares of the company as on August 31, 2008. The purchase of the land at a throw-away price raises numerous questions about the president and his role in acquisition of the land.