The Sindh High Court has observed that the death of an accused cannot legalize tainted assets or defeat the rights of defrauded investors, upholding all forfeiture orders in theAlliance Motors scam pertaining to tainted assets attributable to the deceased convicted appellants.
Deciding appeals of convicted directors of the Alliance Motors scam, a division bench comprising Justice Mohammad Iqbal Kalhoro and Justice Khalid Hussain Shahani observed that forfeiture orders of convicted accused, who died during pendency of appeal, shall remain operative, enforceable and subject to administration through the liquidation proceedings.
Over a dozen of Alliance Motors directors, including main accused Pir Asghar Ali Qureshi, Pir Hamid Ali Qureshi and Mohammad Ibrahim, were convicted by the accountability court on charges of cheating public at large.
The National Accountability Bureau alleged that M/s T.J. Ibrahim and Company and M/s Alliance Motors (Private) Limited were illegally carrying on banking business by accepting public deposits without lawful authorization. The investigation authorized by NAB disclosed liabilities involving approximately 48,250 investors and misappropriated funds estimated at Rs3.571 billion.
The prosecution alleged that accused cheated public by promising a hefty monthly profit of 2 to 3 per cent on an invested amount. The appellants’ counsel submitted that the prosecution had failed to establish by direct and admissible evidence any specific act of dishonest misappropriation attributable individually to either accused independently of the general allegation of conspiracy.
They said that the findings recorded by the trial court proceeded upon generalizations arising from the overall collapse of the business rather than upon proof of specific criminal acts as required by law.
They submitted that the evidence against the appellants was hearsay and legally insufficient to sustain conviction absent independent corroboration through reliable documentary or ocular material.
The counsel further said that since some of the convicted appellants have passed away during the pendency of the appeal, their criminal liabilities and all personal consequences, including convictions, sentences and disqualifications, stand abated by operation of law, and no adverse order in personam may be maintained against their estates or legal heirs.
NAB’s special prosecutor submitted that the prosecution had established its case against all the surviving appellants through clear, consistent and corroborated evidence. He said that the principal accused Pir Asghar Ali Qureshi, Mohammad Ibrahim, Mohammad Tayyab and Hamid Ali Qureshi had already been convicted in an earlier reference and their convictions had been maintained by the high court.
He submitted the remaining appellants were either directors of the subsidiary companies established from the public funds or beneficiaries of properties purchased from such funds, and that their liability was therefore established through the chain of documentary, banking and official evidence produced before the trial court.
The prosecutor said that the massive scale of the fraud was established beyond any doubt. He said the orders of forfeiture relating to the tainted properties, whether in respect of the deceased appellants or the surviving ones, remained valid and operative in rem regardless of the individual fates of the accused.
The court after hearing the arguments of the counsel upheld the conviction of Alliance Motors directors while setting aside the conviction of some co-accused due to lack of evidence. The court observed that the liquidation proceedings pending before the court for more than three decades represent an extensive investor-recovery exercise arising from private fraudulent deposit mobilization.
It observed that evidence establishes that approximately 49,139 claims aggregating over Rs364 crores were filed before the Official Assignee and that, despite liquidation and sale of numerous properties, substantial investor claims remain unsatisfied.
The court observed that legal heirs remain personally unaffected except that no inheritable right can arise in property lawfully determined to be proceeds of fraud. It said observed that Official Assignee shall continue to administer, protect, recover, liquidate and distribute the tainted assets of M/s T.J. Ibrahim and Company and M/s Alliance Motors (Private) Limited in accordance with law, strictly under supervision of this court and for the benefit of defrauded investors whose claims remain outstanding.
The court directed that NAB and all concerned authorities shall extend full cooperation to the Official Assignee in tracing and securing remaining assets connected with the fraudulent enterprise.
