ISLAMABAD : December 22 , 2023: It has been transpired during the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) investigations that arrested ex-chief executive of the drug Regulatory Authority (DRAP) Shaikh Akhtar Hussain is regularly getting salary as an additional director from the authority since March 2019 unlawfully.
A pay slip, a copy made available to NEWSMAN, suggested that DRAP paid Rs 450871 to Shaikh Akhtar Hussain for the month of March 2023. DRAP transferred the “salary” to Shaikh Akhtar Hussain, a known fraud, through Allied Bank, Temple Road Brach Lahore.
The continuation of salary as additional director to Shaikh Akhtar Hussain by DRAP is enough to expose entire network of arrested ex-CEO DRAP. It is enough to establish how deep-rooted and well-connected network of Shaikh Akhtar Hussain is and how a gang of senior officials of DRAP was doling out millions of rupees of tax payers to its God father. It also establishes that sitting CEO Asim Rauf is also part of Shaikh Akhtar Hussain’s network. Its next to possible for an official department to keep paying salary through a fraud to a retired government official unless its top man dares to violate the service rules to give financial benefit to any person.
Sources said Shaikh Akhtar Hussain was facilitated by senior officials of the ministry of Health in Islamabad and for the same reason he is getting salary even today when he never visited DRAP office since his ouster from DRAP CEO office in 2019.
“We are investigating the whole case of arrested ex-DRAP chief as to how he was getting salary and who are his facilitator in Ministry of Health and DRAP and how come the accused minted billions of rupees in short span of his DRAP CEO tenure “, said an official if FIA team investigating arrest ex-DRAP chief.
FIA team is likely to investigate DRAP CEO in Shaikh Akhtar Hussain corruption case. It may also investigate scrutiny committee members who oversaw fake degree of Shaikh Akhtar Hussain for securing appointment as DRAP CEO on December 12, 2018.
Arrested Shaikh Akhtar Hussain served as DRAP CEO for 37 days. During his tenure as DRAP CEO he managed up to 400 percent increase in life saving drug prices. For his this great service , he was a blue-eyed of pharma industry in Pakistan.
The FIR filed against Shaikh Akhtar Hussain claimed that the accused minted Rs 100 billion as ex-CEO DRAP and purchased properties in Lahore, Islamabad and Turkey. Its likely that FIA may seek details from Turkey of the properties owned by Shaikh Akhtar Hussain and his dependents.
FIA is also investigating as to why despite the court orders sitting DRAP CEO , Mr Asim Rauf, did not convene a policy board meeting of DRAP for two years to ascertain wrongdoings done by Shaikh Akhtar Hussain as CEO of the authority. The FIA investigation team is also probing as to how the scrutiny committee of DRAP did not check fake degree presented by the accused for grabbing position as DRAP CEO