Investigations into the Islamabad Cooperative Housing Society (ICHS) scandal have unveiled what officials describe as one of the largest housing frauds in Pakistan’s history. Nearly 36,000 plot files were allegedly issued unlawfully, despite the society not possessing enough land to justify such allotments.
The society’s approved Layout Plan (LOP) and available land bank only supported the issuance of about 6,000 files. However, former office-bearers and alleged facilitators are accused of distributing approximately 42,000 files, creating a massive discrepancy between the land available and the plots promised to buyers.
Investigators have identified around 36,000 files as illegal, excessive, or unsupported by the society’s land resources. This raises significant concerns regarding fraud, mismanagement, and abuse of authority over several years. Additionally, records related to payments and allotments for thousands of these files are either incomplete or entirely missing.
Many citizens reportedly purchased plot files for land that either did not exist, lacked legal sanction, or was never properly documented. The vast gap between the society’s land bank and the number of files issued suggests the use of fake, duplicate, and excessive files to illicitly collect billions of rupees from the public.
Financial irregularities detected so far exceed Rs16 billion, though officials anticipate this figure could rise substantially as the examination of records and transactions continues.
In a significant development, seven suspects linked to the former management committee and a land-dealing company have been arrested. Those detained include former Secretary General Mehdi Khan Shakir, former Treasurer Malik Muhammad Nawaz, former Executive Member Muhammad Arshad, and four individuals from Land Stock Dealing Point Company: Munir Akhtar, Ali Mahmood, Yameen Malik, and Ghulam Jillani.
Meanwhile, the Accountability Court in Islamabad has granted the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) a seven-day physical remand of the accused to facilitate further investigation, recovery of documents, tracing of financial transactions, and identification of other possible accomplices involved in the scam.
Officials involved in the inquiry have indicated that the case may broaden as investigators probe the roles of additional individuals connected to the society’s administration, land management, and financial operations. Multiple teams are working on different facets of the crime to ensure a swift conclusion to the probe. More arrests are expected as the investigation advances.
