- Ahmed is a leading energy entrepreneur of Pakistan.
- The businessman’s name came up in many corruption cases.
- He is the chairman of Associated Group.
Prominent businessman and industrialist Iqbal Z Ahmed was arrested in Hyderabad on Saturday after an accountability court refused to extend his bail in a case involving Rs 29 billion loss to the national exchequer.
Those arrested in the case include the businessman’s two sons – who are chairman of Associated Group. A reference was filed against Ahmed under the Money Laundering Act, which was approved by the then Chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in December 2013.
Ahmed, who is best known as an energy entrepreneur in Pakistan, owns several companies – including Jamshoro Joint Venture Limited.
As per the reference, the businessman was booked after transactions worth billions of rupees were made from his companies in other countries including the United Kingdom.
Ahmed’s name has cropped up in several corruption cases over the years, including in the context of the Rs 22 billion Rental Power Projects (RPP) in which the anti-corruption watchdog has accused then Prime Minister and now Speaker of the National Assembly Raja Pervez. A case was registered against Ashraf.
In November 2014, Ahmed did not appear in court and obtained a stay order against the proceedings taken by NAB.
In October 2013, in the case of the LPG deal by the Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDCL), NAB informed the media about recovery of over Rs 2.28 billion in cash from officials and private players, including the head of Associated Group.
Iqbal was accused of carrying out illegal transactions through money exchange while he was already embroiled in the rental power projects scam in 2013. He had allegedly sent Rs 1.74 billion abroad to obtain foreign currency for payments for his and other companies.
