800 families have been suffering at the hands of “engineers’ housing scheme (ehs), cda sector d-16/17, zone ii, islamabad” and cda for more than a decade. This turns out to be one of the biggest scam in the heart of islamabad whereby more than 800 families fear loss of hard earned money and lifelong savings. Once again, cda is found guilty of criminal negligence and failed to take notice of this scam that unfolded right under its nose - involving embezzlement of billions.
The scam spans over almost three decades dating back to 1992 when ehs was launched by eng. Muhammad arif sheikh, secretary ehs - the all in all of this housing scheme and responsible for all black and white. He maliciously embroiled engineering community and exploited the names of dignitaries like maj. General (r) muhammad anwar khan and eng. Shams ul mulk (ex-chairman wapda) to lure and delude innocent people. He has been single handedly running all affairs of the scheme for last 28 years and miserably failed to deliver possession of even a single plot. Despite being 28 years old housing scheme, development work to date stands next to nothing. Not only sheikh misappropriates funds received in the name of cost of land and development charges but also blackmails members of the scheme through unjustified fines and penalties. Instead of developing the scheme, he invested hard-earned money of affectees for personal gains. Sheikh arif’s alleged properties that have so far been unearthed include: around 200 kanal farm house developed with orange orchards in hasan abdal behind awc, a commercial plaza named "valley one" in g-14/4, a commercial plot worth 400 million on high court road, a 4 kanal site office on gt road, two apartment flats in g-8 and a commercial property in block z, dha, lahore. He refuses to return payment to the members who want to withdraw their membership due to his incompetence and delayed development. He claims that the funds can be returned only after completion and handover of the scheme but declines to provide any timeline. At one hand, sheikh denies to pay any profit on funds deposited with him for decades. On the other hand, he imposes excessive penalties on even slightly delayed installments. Despite repeated reminders, sheikh has blatantly refused to provide any revenue records and tax returns; either to cda or to affectees.
At the same time, cda is guilty of customary criminal negligence that, at times, gives impression of connivance with ehs. The noc (no objection certificate) issued by cda clearly stated that ehs was to complete the development work within four years, which ended in 2014. Cda also committed to general public through public notice in daily newspapers in august 2010 that, in case of failure or delay in development work, mortgaged plots would be sold by cda and money so received would be utilized towards development of the scheme. Neither ehs completed the development work to date nor did cda take any action. Sheikh has also been found guilty of selling even the plots mortgaged to cda. He has defaulted on payment of rs 71 million to cda but cda took no action against him. All these wrongdoings raise suspicions of collusion between ehs and cda.
Affectees of the scheme include overseas pakistanis, senior citizens, retired officers, engineers and widows - many of whom have lost their lives longing to build their homes. They have registered complaints at various forums including cda, wafaqi mohtasib, nab, citizen portal and ministry of overseas pakistanis. They also met with ali nawaz awan, special assistant to prime minister for cda affairs, to share their grievances. In its submissions to wafaqi mohtasib, cda acknowledged gross mismanagement done by ehs and ordered ehs to take corrective measures within two months. Wafaqi mohtasib has also stood with affectees and directed cda through its order dated october 9, 2020 to report compliance within 90 days. Affectees have appealed to all concerned authorities to provide them long-awaited relief and take to task all those found guilty in this heinous scam.
