ISLAMABAD, Dec 20:
The arrest of Younus Habib in April 1994 lifted the curtain from one of the country’s biggest financial scandals in which Mr Habib had allegedly siphoned off a staggering Rs5 billion and doled out millions of rupees to politicians in order to cover up his crime.
He was arrested on a complaint by the State Bank of Pakistan for committing misappropriation in the sale proceeds of Dollar Bearer Certificates (DBCs) to the tune of $36.7 million.
On April 20, 1994, giving details about the payments made by Mr Habib to generals, politicians and political parties, the then Interior Minister, Nasirullah Babar, told the National Assembly that the main beneficiary of his largesse was former army chief General Mirza Aslam Beg who received Rs140 million.
Others who were named by the interior minister included Jam Sadiq Ali (Rs70 million from Habib Bank and Rs150 million from Mehran Bank), MQM chief Altaf Hussein (Rs20 million); Yousuf Memon for Ejaz-ul-Haq and Javed Hashmi (Rs50 million);
Nawaz Sharif (Rs6 million); former Sindh chief minister Muzaffar Hussain Shah through his secretary (Rs13 million), MQM Haqiqi (Rs5 million), former Sports Minister Ajmal Khan (Rs1.4 million), Jam Mashooq Ali (Rs3.5 million), Liaquat Jatoi (Rs1 million), Dost Mohammad Faizi (Rs1 million), and Jam Haider (Rs 2 million).
The Mehran Bank had been doing badly since its very inception in January 1992, and banking experts attributed this poor performance to Younus Habib's penchant for `extra-curricular banking activities’. In fact, the only reason why the bank had managed to stay afloat was the protection and patronage enjoyed by Mr Habib whereby hefty government accounts were brought to Mehran Bank.
Source:
http://www.dawn.com/2006/12/21/nat1.htm
